Killing Joke’s Otitis Interna

Al Jourgensen once said that Ministry would not exist if it hadn’t been for Killing Joke. One listen to that vicious Killing Joke debut, and Al packed up the faux-English accent and the puffy shoulders and became a NOISE MONSTER. That’s the power of Killing Joke — power that is currently on the wane, thanks mainly to Jaz Coleman’s vocal lethargy, made worse by the utterly hearing-impaired production work of one Clive Goddard.

While Geordie Walker, Youth and Paul Ferguson work together to create the sound of a 1500 ton tank firing 7 ton projectiles from an 800 meter cannon while crushing parked cars between skyscapers, Coleman sounds like he’s sedated and howling from the basement. It’s a disappointing contrast and a real waste of some high-quality, heavy duty noise. It’s also a waste of Jaz Coleman’s maniac talent. The world needs the crazy fucker behind 1991’s magnificent punk-industrial piledriver “Money Is Not Our God,” but Coleman sounds too beat down for Absolute Dissent.

I recommend you hear it, (The band is killer) but I’m calling for a remix, a B-12 shot for Coleman, and for Mr.Goddard to have his damn hearing checked.