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Album Details

• Artist: Killing Joke
• Album: Hosannahs From The Basements of Hell
• Label: Cooking Vinyl
• Year of Release: 2006
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dadair on 2006-06-06

The band who some say set the way for the grunge explosion leading to Nirvana's immortality, show that not only has their sound outlived most of the big guns from that era, but they have stretched out their sound to add a thrilling post-rock jungle edge. Racing guitars and Jaz Coleman's vocals show a throatier kick in opener 'This Tribal Antidote'. Usually in longer songs time is delicately taken to slowly grow the rhythm and gently slide the audience into the feel of it, not with Killing Joke, their long songs (of which there are many), invariably start from a shuddering base and relentlessly hammer you with gruff tension and dark lyrical swipes. The rock opera feel of 'Invocation' is no better example of this and also highlights the way the band underpins its prima facie rabid nature with coated rhythms, before stripping them down to the bare bones.
The industrial slanted 'Majestic' is punctuated with sinister howls and the full on roasting bass lines of Paul Raven, help to cook up a fiery rant. There is clear vocal propulsion evident that allows you to fully appreciate and be startled, at the ruggedly raving lyrical snap on show, as 'Walking With God's' displays;

"Fight by day, fuck by night,
prepare to die at any time enemy smash me down
Still I come back for more each round salvation's not just a pill to escape,
but your skill fight on, fight on until death intervenes."

An atmospherically eerie offering, 'Judas Coat' is a jam fuelled journey into the heart of Killing Joke, with Coleman showing that Alice In Chains weren't the only ones who could make you feel through music, that the world is closing in you. This outfit formed in London around 26 years ago, they have never been closer to replicating the sheer gusto and enigmatic bite they displayed when first bursting into the music industry's gaze.

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