After numerous line-up changes throughout the years, all of the original members of Killing Joke will reunite for a new album and world tour kicking off Sept. 11 in Tokyo, Japan and concluding Oct. 12 in New York City.
Drummer Paul Ferguson rejoins the line up for the first time since 1987, and bassist Martin ‘Youth’ Glover also steps back into the live arena after a near 15-year hiatus, having not played live with Killing Joke since 1994’s Pandemonium tour.
The tour will see Killing Joke take up a two night residency in most venues offering a different set on each evening. On the first night, they will play their first two albums in their entirety, 1980’s self-titled album followed by the album ‘What’s This…For!’. Their second performance in each city will treat fans to 1994’s Pandemonium and the Island Records singles of 1979-80.
Ferguson once described the band’s music as “the sound of the earth vomiting.” Taking a sarcastic jab at authority and perceived reality to a sonically charged mixture of post punk and metal, Killing Joke’s heavy guitars and pounding tribal drums conjure a primitive atmosphere of doom, gloom and resistance.
Notorious for their use of inflammatory imagery, a backlash against a world they perceived as ever more materialistic, unjust and conservative, Killing Joke railed against the establishment and created a unique sound from their very conception.
With elements of proto-techno rock, Killing Joke’s post apocalyptic vision has inspired bands as diverse and influential as Nirvana, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden and Godflesh.
Killing Joke itinerary:
September
11-12 – JAP Tokyo, Duo
16 – ESP Madrid, Heineken
18 – ESP Barcelona, Apollo
19-20 – ITA Milan, Rolling Stone
24-25 – GRE Berlin, Columbia Hall
26-27 – FRA Paris, Trabendo
29-30 – BEL Brussels, AB Club
October
3-4 – ENG London, The Forum
9 – CA Los Angeles, House Of Blues
11-12 – NY New York, Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
