Historical Revisionism: Killing Joke

This marks the first of hopefully many installments of Historical Revisionism on DIJ. Historical Revisionism aims to reexamine previously ignored or dismissed music, either by situating it within a broader historical context which wasn't apparent at the time of the music's release, or by ignoring the expectations and circumstances surrounding the music at that time. Historical Revisionism will thus be historical and ahistorical in its approach as it suits our whims. We may also set our sights on the odd sacred cow or two in the process.

Killing Joke, "Hosannas From The Basement of Hell
Killing Joke's 2003 outing, their second self-titled LP, garnered more praise and attention than any of the veteran post-punk outfit's releases had in well over a decade. With its shift away from the techno-influenced rhythms of their 90s albums, the drumming of hired gun Dave Grohl and the return of erstwhile bassist Paul Raven, the album was hailed as the sort of return to form that music journalists (who love to champion a commercial underdog like The Joke) are always crowing about.

Arriving three years later, "Hosannas From The Basement of Hell" (named after the stygian underground studio in Prague where it was recorded) didn't attract nearly as much attention. After the return to form, it was considered business as usual, with a much shorter, Europe-only tour. In the aftermath of Raven's sudden death in 2007, the band announced that its original line-up would be reuniting for an extensive tour, focussed on it's earliest records, which were duly given the deluxe reissue treatment. Bookended by Killing Joke's return to the limelight on one side, and the revisiting of the canonical early work which has become de rigeur for post-punkers of Killing Joke's generation on the other, "Hosannas" may end up as little more than a footnote in the history of one of rock's most obstinate, noisy, and underappreciated bands.

If it does, it'll be a crime. This record is a fucking monster. Orange in tooth and claw, this beast screams upward from the Czech underworld in which it was conceived to run riot in blinding sunlight. Paleo-industrial riffs churn up overtop of punishing rhythms and almost seem to wrestle with each other before finding a shared sense of propulsion which drives the listener through futurist landscapes with unparalleled ferocity.

The best tracks on the disc pile chiming harmonies and melodies on top of the already thick mix that lend grandeur and passion to the storm. Combined with Jaz Coleman's plaintive, gutter-scratched bark, cuts like "Implosion" and "Walking With Gods" rank with the best of the band's material.

Songs (or more specifically, riffs) are dragged on to nearly interminable length, which one could either deem annoying or in keeping with Coleman's dedication to hypnotic and altered states of mind: I'm content to rage along with them 'til the cows come home, but your mileage may vary. "Hosannas" bears no small resemblance in this sense to Ministry's "Animositisomina", another slept-on record from a group of industrial-rock legends, which also fell between the cracks of two distinct periods in its creators' oeuvre.

Here's the video for the title track, featuring a plethora of archetypal Killing Joke imagery: warpaint, alchemy, meat, the underclass, Jaz being generally weird and 'mystic'.