Band:	Killing Joke
Album:	In Excelsis
Style:	Post-Punk, Industrial metal
Release date:	June 21, 2010
A review by:	jupitreas

01. In Excelsis
02. Endgame
03. Kali Yuga
04. Ghost Of Ladbroke Grove

Amongst the many repercussions of Paul Raven's death two and a half years ago was the reunion of the original Killing Joke lineup of Jaz Coleman, Geordie Walker, Youth and Paul Ferguson. Having played a few well-received live shows, the band eventually decided to go ahead and record a full length album, XIII: Feast Of Fools, set to finally be released in September of this year after numerous delays. Youth has been quoted stating that things like "equipment being hi-jacked, tapes being withheld, nervous breakdowns, family bereavements etc." were responsible and frankly, all of this stuff didn't fill me with a huge amount of optimism. These are some old guys, they've seen better days and recorded more than one dud along the way. Then again, perhaps I had been a skeptical pillock all that time...

In Excelsis, the new EP, definitely seems to prove that I'm a stupid cynical asshole. The four songs over here not only recapture what Killing Joke was all about back in the early 80s but also go one step further and rekindle that old flame of inspiration characteristic of the entire early post-punk scene. Once again influences such as dance music and dub/reggae are explored in "Kali Yuga" and "Ghost Of Ladbroke Grove" respectively, with the remaining two tracks being vintage, awesome, pure anthemic Killing Joke goodness. The little EP also features superb production capable of capturing thundering power, tectonic heaviness and the mesmerizing melodic current heaving beneath. Amazingly, every sound here seems powerful yet fragile and sick in some indefinable way, a metaphor for strength that is palpable yet oppressed.

Indeed, Killing Joke are still fighting the good fight and In Excelsis is apt indication that XIII: Feast Of Fools might just be one of this year's most impressive releases. Of course, it could also just be a case of an old man running out of steam before the job is done. The full length now really has a lot of hype to live up to, it really does.