Did anybody really expect a band as intense and volatile as Killing Joke to last 30 years? The British political post-punk/metal/industrial/avant-garde/whatever-the-hell-it-is group surely seemed like it would immolate itself in its own fury before getting that far, and yet, here we are, three decades after the self-titled debut and we’re being told a new Joke. Absolute Dissent has the added attraction of being the first LP to feature the original lineup since 1982’s Revelations. Sort of a summing up of where the band’s been these past 30 years, the album moves from throbbing dance rock (“European Super State”) to soaring postpunk (“Here Comes the Singularity,” “Honor the Fire”) to a Joke version of dub reggae (“Ghosts of Ladbroke Grove”), with loads of pounding crunch (“Depthcharge,” “This World Hell,” the title track) in between. Bassist Youth and drummer Paul Ferguson still make a nimble, powerhouse rhythm section, and guitarist Geordie‘s distorted wash still slays. But the star is, as always, vocalist Jaz Coleman, who goes from reflective to raging in a heartbeat as if he’s still 25 years old. Absolute Dissent? Sure, but absolute power as well.
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