Killing Joke are on a mission to take their music of resistance to a whole new level with latest and 16th studio album Pylon, out on October 23 via Spinefarm Records/Caroline Australia.
Pylon was produced in the UK and Prague by the band and Tom Dalgety, whose credits include the hugely successful Royal Blood album, and isn’t designed to accompany a quiet night at home in front of the fire; Pylon is very much music as ritual – raw, uncompromising and precisely-targeted lyrically, with the artwork put together by regular band associate Mike Coles, the designer behind the very first Killing Joke album.
As for the album’s title, says Youth, “It’s simple… Stark brutal industrial suicide… This is the third in a triptych of albums, Absolute Dissent, MMXII and now Pylon… heavy and uncompromising, bleak dystopian lyrics, as well as some visionary celebration… lots of black pain emotion. To be honest, we remain genre blind so our music will always cover a vast spectrum of influences, from disco right through to heavy metal and beyond…”
While other bands of a certain vintage may struggle to hold their edge, Killing Joke are delivering the best and most relevant material of their career, with no mellowing or softening of the edges getting in the way – a line in the sand against mainstream music and corporate existence, with I Am The Virus (“an intense, angry, uncompromising shout into the abyss”, according to Youth, and lead track from Pylon) providing a typically bitter taste of the ‘delights’ to come…
“I believe we delivered 15 tracks for the new album,” ponders Youth, who actually raised that number to 16 with a last minute dub remix, “and it could have been a lot more…”
“This record really showcases the power of Killing Joke,” continues Jaz. “I remember we once jammed with German outfit Can, and I don’t remember hearing Can…”
Difficult, perverse and willfully unpredictable, Killing Joke continue to be a group that actually stands for something; Youth will tell you it’s “honesty, commitment and illumination”, and the others will doubtless have ideas of their own, but one thing’s for certain: what once seemed paranoid now seems downright prophetic, and for all of their adherence to darker hues, the future for Killing Joke seems bright… whether they like it or not.
Pylon will be available as CD album, CD Deluxe and Vinyl (Black Vinyl). The CD album consists of 10 tracks, CD Deluxe is a 2 disc with 5 brand new studio recordings and Vinyl is an 11 track album, 2 Disc, 180 gram black vinyl, Gatefold Sleeve.
CD Deluxe Track Listing:
Disc One
01 Autonomous Zone
02 Dawn Of The Hive
03 New Cold War
04 Euphoria
05 New Jerusalem
06 War On Freedom
07 Big Buzz
08 Delete
09 I Am The Virus
10 Into The Unknown
Disc Two
01 Apotheosis
02 Plague
03 Star Spangled
04 Panopticon
05 Snakedance (Youth ‘Rattlesnake Dub’ Remix)