REVIEW: Killing Joke, Pandemonium (Zoo)
- Bob Gajarsky
In the 1980's, before Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Helmet, or any of the loud, industrial bands that have taken the alternative world by storm, there was Killing Joke. The innovators in thrash - Jaz Coleman on vocals and keyboards, Geordie on guitar, and Youth on bass - have returned to cause Pandemonium in 1994.
Top tracks include the title track and "Millenium". Turn it up and let the power resonate you - thrash hasn't sounded so good in a while. If you thought that Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine was just a tad compromising to be socially acceptable at 2 in the morning - and thought that frat boys shouldn't dance to it (OK, I was one. Proud, but my brothers wouldn't know another track from PHM) - well, Pandemonium is a perfect album to call home.
The ironic part is where the band's members have been since Killing Joke last released an album. Coleman relocated to New Zealand and composed for world renowned orchestras including the Cairo and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras. Geordie continued honing his own guitar style and Youth, after a brief stint in the British pop band Brilliant, has become a super producer working with artists including The Orb, Crowded House and The Firemen, better known as Paul McCartney.
Killing Joke has released a masterpiece in a world of bands that clone the groups which drew their inspiration from Killing Joke, circa 1984. It's good to see these alternative veterans have returned to their roots, thrash and industrial music, without sarcificing their integrity. A must get for anyone who needs their industrial strength thrash fix.
