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With a musical history spanning over thirty years, England’s Killing Joke have influenced countless bands and inspired legions of fans with their fiery ‘n focused brand of industrialized, post-punk madness.  

Absolute Dissent is the band’s first full length since 2006’s Hosannas From the Basement of Hell and features the band’s original lineup bashing out the jams with dire aggression and nailed down precision.


Killing Joke themselves have commented on the album being one of the most important of their career, and—to be honest—it’s tough to disagree.

One of the most enduring aspects of the band’s legacy is how diversified their sound has remained, incorporating such disparate elements as goth, synth pop and rock into the mix, while always remaining intrinsically heavy and unique. Though Metallica’s cover of “The Wait” certainly introduced Killing Joke to a wider audience back in the '80s, the strength of Absolute Dissent affirms that the band does just fine cementing and forging their continued reputation clear into 2011.  

Jaz Coleman’s clear and passionate vocals cry out the clarion call here, pushing each track into proud, anthemic territory with ease. The only point of contention is with how long some of these songs are, and how blatantly each hammers down their respective chorus into the ground; it gets to be a bit repetitive at times.

Nevertheless, Spinefarm should be commended on releasing this excellent album to the masses.

While at first the marriage of Killing Joke and this metal-centered Finnish label might seem at odds, few will be able to argue with the end results of Absolute Dissent.

(released November 16, 2010 on Spinefarm Records)

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.