Album Details

• Artist: Killing Joke
• Album: Absolute Dissent
• Label: Spine Farm
• Year of Release: 2010
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2010-10-02

Why not? So many bands from the 80s have reunited, and many have chipped in with records as good as they made back in the day. It worked for 70s bands, so why not put aside punk rules and rock past 40 too? Killing Joke is only the latest and their return entry, "Absolute Dissent," serves them well, being full of the driving, semi-industrial punk and melodic but pissed vocals that were their hallmarks.

The title cut starts things off with six minutes of sustained, grinding punk, with a dark, synth and guitar atmosphere that leads straight into "The Great Cull," a song which fans would have been talking about as a classic in 1986: bullish and abrasive but hummable, lyrics smart and poetic but not embarrassing. The greasy punkabilly of "Fresh Fever From The Skies" follows to make for a hot powerful opening threesome.

The rest of the record manages to keep up the frenzied, confident assault. "European Super State," cheekily released as the single, is a bit more of an 80s techno tune, as is "Honour The Fire" and "Ghosts on Landbroke Grove." Your sweet tooth for such fare will determine whether or not that is good news, but if you listen to the jaundiced lyrics of each, you know I'm not talking Naked Eyes here.

The scabrous "Here Comes the Singularity," "This World Hell" and "In Excelsis" are classic Killing Joke, as memorable as anything they did in the past.

"Absolute Dissent" finds industrial punk legends Killing Joke picking up where they left off. This is no nostalgia trip, or pathetic stab at reliving old glory. This is brutal, vital stuff.  And if that isn't enough (and personally, I think it is) there is a Deluxe Edition with a second disc included that features covers of the KJ classics by the likes of Metallica, Helmet, etc. Well, OK).

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