After witnessing Killing Joke in all their live magnificence just a few hours earlier I couldn’t wait to pick up ‘Lord Of Chaos’, the track that makes up the centrepiece of the band’s current live set, and heralds the arrival of the band’s first new material since 2015’s provocative yet still excellent ‘Pylon’ album.

 ‘Lord Of Chaos’ is the first of four songs contained on this EP and it is a masterclass in melancholic heaviness. As brutal in the studio as it was live, largely thanks to a razor-sharp mix from Tom Dalgety (Opeth, Ghost and Pixies), ‘Lord Of Chaos’ is perhaps the perfect soundtrack for our troubled times, soaring on a trademark Jaz Coleman vocal line that hooks you in and then spits you out bloodied and bruised in a little under four minutes.  This is the sound of classic Killing Joke.

As is ‘Total’, which is actually my favourite of the two new tracks showcased here, largely because whilst thundering along like some gothic destroyer it also hints at the slightly more melodic undertones of the band’s ‘Night Time’. If this is something that the band have also continued into their yet-to-be-released sixteenth studio album, then it’s going to make for some very interesting listening indeed.

The two tracks that make up the rest of this EP are reworkings of tracks from the aforementioned ‘Pylon’ album with ‘Big Buzz’ getting a dancefloor remix from Dalgety and Nick Evans whilst Killing Joke’s very own in-house production king Youth gets to dub-deconstruct ‘Delete’ as only he can.

Going back to the gig the night before in Cardiff what struck me most was about the night was the fact that 40 odd years into their career there’s still no-one out there like Killing Joke, others have tried certainly, but I take my hat off to Jaz, Youth, Geordie and Paul for being the original and true Lords Of Chaos. Cherish them while you still can!

Buy Here

Author: Johnny Hayward