Killing Joke: Have You Heard Both New Jams?

As these words are being written, a combined force of four dozen people are at work securing us an interview with Killing Joke frontman Jaz Coleman. He’s hard to pin down, just as his band is hard to put into words. Sure, Coleman looks like a regular weirdo, and at a glance, his band’s droning, hard-driving jams seem to welcome terms like “industrial” “metal” and “post-punk.” But words only approximate Killing Joke, this band whose sound is sum of no fewer than three huge, distinct music personalities. Such a fitful collaboration, like Faith No More, is a one-off, not a shared vision. Also like FNM, Killing Joke offers a lot to fans of extreme metal: Some of its moving parts seem to glide and others flap wildly. One song whips you into a state of manic claustrophobia (below), the next launches you into meditation (below below). There’s a riveting guitarist, a mercurial frontman, an in-house producer. It’s a pretty pure experience. Crank it up!

Killing Joke’s 15th album Pylon is out October 23 via Spinefarm. Pre-order it here. US tour dates here.