Killing Joke

Paul Ferguson and Jaz Coleman were respectively drummer and singer of the Matt Stagger Band when they decided to stage Killing Joke in 1978. The duo then recruited Martin Glover, then bassist of punk band The Rage, and Geordie Walker. Under this formation is recorded the first ep Turn To Red which attracts the attention of John Peel.
Killing Joke then recorded Wardance , his first single, in February 1980, which followed the first eponymous album. From then on the band began to shoot regularly and to make talk about him, especially because of a poster on which the pope was seen blessing the Nazi army, impertinence worth a concert ban in Glasgow. Still, Killing Joke formed a growing circle of fans that went far beyond punk, thanks to more dancing songs like "Psyche" or "Follow the Leader", and released his second album What's This For in 1981.
After the recording of Revelations in 1982, Jaz Coleman, convinced that the end of the world is near, fled to Iceland with Geordie and toured with some local formations such as Theyr, who later took the name of Sugarcubes and in which a certain Björk officer was appointed. Realizing that the apocalypse was postponed to a later date, Killing Joke returned to England to record Firedances with a new bassist, Paul Raven, Glover having meanwhile left to form Brilliant.
The band separated for the first time after the release of Outside the Gate in 1988, but took over the studio direction two years later for the album Extremeities, Dirt And Various Repressed Emotions with Martin Atkins on drums (The Damage Manual , Ministry ). Killing Joke granted himself a new four-year break before reforming and registering Pandemonium, followed by Democracy. It is not until 2003 that his successor Killing Joke II comes out with Dave Grohl (Nirvana , Foo Fighters ) to the battery. Three years later, Hosannas From The Basements of Hell arrived, with more experimental accents and more "old-school" production. After four years of reflection marked by the death of bassist and founding member Paul Raven, Absolute Dissent was born in 2010 at Spinefarm Records. His successor MMXII was soon released in 2012, followed by a compilation of singles the following year, and finally by the fourteenth studio album of the English, Pylon , delivered in 2015. Jaz Coleman - chant Geordie Walker - guitar Martin Glover - bass Paul Ferguson - drums Reza Uhdin - keyboards