Killing Joke release ‘Lord Of Chaos’ from forthcoming EP
Gothic punk rockers Killing Joke are back, and this time they’re bringing out an EP. Fans hoping for a full album will have to wait a while longer, but this set includes two re-worked covers from their 2015 album, Pylon, as well as two completely original pieces.
The band has just issued the title track as a stand-alone song, continuing the hard industrial sound that they are famous for. Fronted by keyboardist Jaz Coleman, the band also features Paul Ferguson and Geordie Walker-not forgetting bassist Youth, who has become one of rock’s most notable producers in recent years. Youth worked on Pink Floyd‘s codicil The Endless River, and collaborates with Paul McCartney under the banner of The Fireman, while Coleman and Walker released an album in 2021 that featured Joy Division’s Peter Hook on bass.
“Geordie, Hooky and myself are going to continue Killing Division as something separate to anything that else we are doing,” Coleman admitted in 2021. “Killing Joke is a mothership, and we have another album beckoning. With both projects, I aim to capture-and will capture- the zeitgeist”.
Killing Joke was formed in London in 1979. Coleman knew drummer Paul Ferguson, leading him to place adverts in Melody Maker, advertising for other bandmates. Their early work fused reggae, funk and snatches of punk, and their self-titled debut melded these works together into one fiery package. Bolstered by the success of ‘Wardance’, Killing Joke continued to fashion a setlist based on mistrust, paranoia and persuasion.
Metallica enjoyed their music, they performed ‘The Wait’ on The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited, and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has declared their first album a favourite of his. Grohl joined Killing Joke to perform the drums on Killing Joke 2003, having purportedly declined payment for in the process. Ferguson rejoined the band for Absolute Dissent, making it the first album to feature the original lineup since the 1980s.
Killing Joke are going to tour across Britain, beginning at the Tramshed in Cardiff on Monday, 28th March, before finishing in London on Saturday, April 9th.
Stream Killing Joke’s ‘Lord Of Chaos’ below.
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