Killing Joke @ O2 ABC, Glasgow, 3 Nov

Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke stands before us, his eyeliner seeping into the pores of his former years as he prances across the stage of the ABC. He haunts our hearts with trembling vocals and the skill and agility of a praying mantis, but with greasier hair and a bit more of a Satanic vibe.  

As the tour celebrates Killing Joke’s new album Pylon, the band demonstrate their enigmatic and transcendental abilities by punching their way through fresh gems such as The Autonomous Zone and Panopticon. The crowd sways and jerks along to the their eerie growl; a sea of heads like defiant sperm wiggling their way towards the cervix of industrial metal in the hopes that they will conceive a dirty-punk-rock-goth infant of the underworld.

Despite Pylon rearing its formidable, genre-bending head, it seems that Jaz is the single-minded force keeping the band intact and energized. The others seem indifferent and lethargic to the cause, only rousing from their slumber when punching out tracks such as Eighties and The Wait, as if their passion lays dormant only to erupt at the memories of what they once were. For die-hard fans, a Satanic euphoria garnishes the chambers of their memories, creating a deliciously strident and haunting experience. Although Jaz’s energy verges on a zombie Ganesh, spiritually rousing yet doomed for the underworld, for newer fans the overall aura of the performance seems jaded and formulaic.

Killing Joke is a band with integrity and experimental prowess, but this performance fails to live up to their former glories, instead straddling the space between legend and future and struggling to keep upright.