The Industrial Revolution Part 2

Album: Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell
Artist: Killing Joke
Genre: Industrial Metal
Year: 2006
Label: Cooking Vinyl

While we’re still on an Industrial kick, let’s talk a little about Killing Joke. Killing Joke have proven to be one of the most influential bands on the planet, helping shape the sounds of everyone from Metallica to Nirvana. Their greatest influence, however, is felt in the worlds of Industrial Rock and Metal. The Joke began life as a bizarre Post-Punk outfit that got heavier and heavier and heavier. They got weirder too: Jaz Coleman (the singer) periodically disappeared to await the end of the world on some tiny island in the northern Atlantic. When the end of the world consecutively failed to arrive, he went back to rejoin the band, possibly to see if he could help Armageddon along though music. At the time of this recording, The Joke was a four piece, consisting of Coleman on synth and vocals (of course), guitar player Geordie Walker, bass player Paul Raven and drummer Ben Calvert.

Hosannas From The Basements Of Hell is an undoubtedly heavy record, taking Industrial Metal to its apocalyptic conclusions. The band’s practice sessions turned into recordings in a small, dark basement somewhere in Prague and the sound is deeply affected by the venue. Coleman’s beastial vocals, normally at the forefront of the music, are submerged in the mix, making him shout even louder than normal to get his point across. His subject matter, as always, is dark, surreal and apocalyptic. The music is crushingly heavy, perhaps the heaviest that they’ve ever been. The record is certainly more thunderous then their previous effort, their second self-titled album that came out in 2003. That record is very good and well produced, but lacks the raw, crackling energy that is brought by the band to this work. However, this record is not without its flaws. None of them are particularly crippling, but they still show up, like chinks in plate of armor.

The music can get a little repetitive. Killing Joke has always liked to groove and on this album they do so a lot. The song starts, they lay down their plan and very rarely deviate from it. This is where their strength lies, it’s true, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t wearing. The worst example of this comes in the form of the nine minute-plus “The Lightbringer” which manages to repeat its same groove for an unnecessary length of time. It does have variations, but even those manage to repeat themselves, making the song feel very self-indulgent. My favorite takes on the album are the ones with the most variation, lyrically and musically. These are tracks like the monstrous “Judas Goat” and the sludgy closer, “Gratitude”, the first of which has at least three major variations and the second of which has the best groove of any take on the record.

It is impressive that they did this album with mostly live takes and minor over dubs, yes, but I have the niggling feeling that they could have done even better. I’ve heard the Damage Manual, so I know that Geordie can do more wild things with a guitar then picking a couple of chords and repeating them over and over again. Of course, in the case of Industrial Metal, repetitive grooves may be just what you’re looking for. It certainly doesn’t detract enough from the album to make me not like it. This is an excellent album with problems, but that’s how a lot of them are. The whole band sounds like the soundtrack to the end of days and Coleman like a demon, heralding the birth of the Anti-Christ and the collapse of civilization as we know it. Really, from Killing Joke, what more could you want?

Post-Script: Paul Raven passed away October of 2007. He left behind a legacy of music that will make you shake in your boots. This was his final album with Killing Joke and it was a fine one at that.