Post-punk icons Killing Joke have released their first new material in seven years, Lord Of Chaos. It's the title track of the band's upcoming EP, which also features another new song, Total, and two remixes of tracks that appeared on 2015's Pylon album, Big Buzz (Motorcade Mix) and Delete In Dub (Youth’s Disco 45 Dystopian Dub).
Lord Of Chaos is something of a monster, with an ominous, Godzilla-sized riff and despairing lyrics that tell of the dangers currently facing the planet: climate crisis, poverty, social unrest and more. The video is a grab-bag of disturbing newsreel footage, including references to the cover of Killing Joke's debut album, an image based on a photograph shot during the Troubles in Belfast by renowned war photographer Don McCullin.
“I’ve never known anything like the time we are living in now, not since the Cuban Missile crisis," says Killing Joke frontman Dr. Jaz Coleman. "But now, in comparison, we have multiple flash points. Lord of Chaos is about complex systems failure, when technology overloads and A.I. misreads the enemy's intentions."
Late last year Coleman was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by the University of Gloucestershire.
Killing Joke are to embark on their first run of UK dates in over three years next month. The Honour The Fire tour will kick off with an intimate show at the 180-capacity Frog & Fiddle in Cheltenham on March 27, while the UK leg will conclude with a filmed show at the venue formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon on April 9. Full dates below.
Killing Joke Honour The Fire Tour
Mar 27: Cheltenham Frog & Fiddle, UK
Mar 28: Cardiff Tramshed, UK
Mar 29: Nottingham Rock City, UK
Mar 31: Bristol O2 Academy, UK
Apr 01: Liverpool O2 Academy, UK
Apr 02: Birmingham O2 Institute, UK
Apr 04: Manchester Albert Hall, UK
Apr 05: Newcastle Boiler Shop, UK
Apr 06: Glasgow Barrowlands, UK
Apr 08: Leeds O2 Academy, UK
Apr 09: London Eventim Apollo Hammersmith, UK
Jun 03: Karkow Mystic Festival, Poland
Jun 17: Dessel Graspop Metal Meeting, Belgium
Jun 19: Clisson Hellfest, France
Jun 24: Clisson Hellfest, France
Aug 14: Derbyshire Bloodstock, UK
The Imbeciles are supporting on all dates (except Cheltenham) and Brix Smith is the special guest in London. Tickets are on sale now.
