Killing Joke
Night Time

THE REVIEW

That the Killing Joke was one of the fundamental bands of the post-punk scene and one of the most seminal groups of contemporary rock culture is beyond doubt. From the outset, with the self-titled album, Jaz Coleman and Geordie Walker captured the general attention for successfully overcoming the turn and death of the original punk without completely succumbing to the easy temptations of the British new wave that winked at pop or espoused the ostentatious gothic aesthetic. With ingenious acumen and a completely original mastery of rhythmic structures, Killing Joke managed to blend the tamed energy of punk itself with suburban and tribal suggestions of undeniably higher cultural level.
Amidst more or less sinister attempts by many bands to canonize new trends, Coleman and company pulled themselves out of every current and began an evolutionary path that still remains unique in that context, although often ignored or underestimated by the public and critics. Their records from forty years ago still sound contemporary and charming today, convincing us that their motto (Semper Imitatum Numquam Idem) was adopted without presumption. Killing Joke were undoubtedly among the founding fathers of several new millennium genres.
Night Time, written and realized in 1984, was released the following year and probably represents their most famous creation, especially by virtue of the single Love Like Blood which became a sort of anthem of British dark rock. It also placed well in non-specialized charts, dragging along the rest of the album, namely seven other songs endowed with cohesion and power that were thrilling for those times. Guitar riffs you never tire of, choruses where melody weds liberating rage, lyrics full of political, historical, social, sexual, and esoteric references.
Of this refoundation of the rock's stylistic elements that Killing Joke operated in the first half of the '80s, Night Time may not constitute the basic chapter, but it was the one that summed it up and made it accessible to a larger audience. We think that the theme of the rock-solid closing track Eighties was blatantly copied by Nirvana - in a diluted version - for Come As You Are (with a posthumous settlement of the plagiarism lawsuit). Not a small tribute, considering the crucial relevance grunge had in turn. But we also think of names like NIN or Korn, all indebted to the stylistic ideas Killing Joke pulled out of the hat before 1985.
Apart from the already mentioned Love Like Blood and Eighties, I love to remember the glorious Europe, the acerbic Tabazan, the apocalyptic Darkness Before Dawn and the melancholy Multitudes, true gems that make this album always enjoyable even after countless listens. Jaz Coleman's stentorian and rough voice never loses the accent of a raging despair that seems to invoke the justice of a transcendent destiny. His subtle and never intrusive keyboards run along with the rhythmic flow of Geordie's hefty guitars which fit into the bass and drum-powered locomotive.

And through madness, through terror we must pass
As if waiting for the sunlight that may never arrive
In time we face ourselves with all our flaws and fears
Now that I know the final conflict is inside
I recognize the faces of my friends and hear the call:
"come journey with me through the darkest hour»