Jaz Coleman was recently decorated by the French Government for his contribution to music. Photo / Supplied
After a 20-year gap, the original, influential Killing Joke return to acclaim. By Paula Yeoman.
It took the death of a fellow band member to rekindle the spark, but now the original Killing Joke line-up is back together with a new album. They describe it as "the single most important piece of work" they have ever made.
It is a big statement coming from such
influential rockers, who emerged during London's post-punk era in the late 1970s and later pioneered the industrial metal sound of the 1990s, inspiring the likes of Nirvana, Soundgarden and Jane's Addiction.
But it is a claim that the band's frontman, British-born Jaz Coleman, stands by.
"If you look at Killing Joke's history, there's no denying that since the 90s we've been escalating, making our most vital work."
Coleman and fellow founding members Paul Ferguson, Martin (Youth) Glover and Geordie Walker hadn't spoken to each other for nearly 20 years when they were reunited at the funeral of former bassist Paul Raven in 2007.
By that point Killing Joke had been through countless line-up changes, with Coleman still at the helm. But Raven's death made them realise just how important the band was: "It took a death in our family," Coleman says.
And there has been no looking back, with the foursome now touring the world and the goth-doom-metal of their 13th album, Absolute Dissent, being met with critical acclaim.
"I can't put it into words. To be in a band that you started when you were all 17 and here we are, let's face, it 49, 50, and wow!" says Coleman, who was recently decorated by the French Government for his contribution to contemporary music.
"I feel like I've achieved so much more than I ever set out to. We're playing bigger venues now than we've ever played before and at festivals in places like Vietnam and India.
"It's all a surprise, but it's a wonderful discovery that's been made in my 32nd year with this band."
Killing Joke's new album, Absolute Dissent, is out now.
