If you’re going to embark upon a near decadelong quest to deliver a ‘photographic portrayal’ of a band, you’d better make sure that your subjects are characterful and compelling. Luckily, Canadian photographer Mont Sherar chose the gentlemen of Killing Joke. Collectively eternally enigmatic, charismatic, monolithic juggernauts of apocalyptic postpunk and individually four, brooding, totemic visionaries who’ve not only operated behind a captivating veil of mystery and majick for the last four decades, but who also boast well-chiselled, weather-hewn chops that lend themselves extremely well to moody black and white.
Twilight Of The Mortals doesn’t waste its opportunity, with rare glimpses on, off and behind the stage. The accompanying text’s tendency toward mock-heroism is often superfluous here, with the photographic studies telling the story more succinctly than words ever could. In fact, a single shot of Geordie Walker’s 1952 golden-cello Gibson ES-295 says more about the transcendent majesty of rock than an entire U2 gallery show.
