Killing Joke ‘Lord of Chaos’ Review: UK postpunk masters return with 4-song EP, featuring new material and ‘Pylon‘ remixes.
It seems like whenever life seems completely fucked, when all hope appears lost, we have one silver lining: new music from Killing Joke.
Somehow the band are ever attuned to the times we are living in, emerging when we need them most. And in an era where every day feels like we’re heading into a dystopian future, they are once again right on time, with Lord of Chaos, their first release since 2015’s Pylon.
It’s a strong 4-song EP meant to tide fans over while the band are working on their next full length album, and it proves a compelling appetizer.
Frontman Jaz Coleman’s statement in the press release regarding the title track, in the light of the battle between Russian and the Ukraine, is downright eerie (but hopefully not prophetic):
I’ve never known anything like the time we are living in now; not since the Cuban Missile crisis but now in comparison we have multiple flash points…Lord of Chaos is about complex systems failure, when technology overloads and A.I. misreads the enemies intentions.
The song is appropriately menacing and seismic, a classic Killing Joke track that marries a punishing crunching guitar riff with a bruising backbeat and Coleman’s Gregorian chant style of singing over post-apocalyptic imagery:
Fatal attraction to bright lights and loud explosions
Insects will rule when we’ve had our go
Our rise and fall, our stewardship, our temper tantrums
Our art, our excellence, our hubris, poverty and greed
Flash points everywhere
And everybody’s scared
Complex systems failure
And the lord of chaos is in.
The other original track on the EP is Total, a goth tinged number in the style of their iconic 80’s song Love Like Blood vibes, with an atmospheric verse and pounding anthemic chorus.
The other two songs are Pylon tracks that have been remixed, including Big Buzz (Motorcade Mix) which is aptly titled given its one of the most widescreen, soaring numbers the band has written to date, retrofitted for the dance floor with glittering synths and a banger beat.
Delete In Dub (Youth’s Disco 45 Dystopian Dub) goes back to the band’s early roots, with producer and bassist Youth managing to keep the original track’s sinister vibe, even while getting injected with soothing dub soundscapes and tranquil pacing.
All in all, Lord of Chaos succeeds in its mission of getting the band’s name back in the spotlight, and whetting fan’s appetites for their new full-length affair. And if its anywhere close as good as this EP, greatness lies ahead.
