It is quite impressive that “MMXII” is the fifteenth studio album released by legendary Killing Joke. In terms of music style and execution, this album manages to effortlessly blend the band’s obvious post punk roots, the fierce intensity of industrial and the dark introspective side of gothic rock. This is supposed to be an apocalyptic album as the lyrics mainly concern the environmental and economical issues of our time. Yet, there is a lot of optimism and hope for restoration and redemption.

“Pole Shift” is an atmospheric and emotional musical piece with soothing distorted guitar riffs and several keyboard layers. The vocals style here is mainly melodic, disillusioned and monotone at times.

“Fema Camp” revolves around an obsessively recurring super catchy guitar riff. Overall, this is a straight forward rock song with a captivating dark aura and very raw acidic vocals.

“Rapture” and “Corporate Elect” are faster groovy tracks highly influenced by the band’s punk roots. The basic guitar riffs and the easy rhythm make these songs very accessible even if there is a lingering unmistakable darkwave vibe.

On “In Cythera” the overall rhythm slows down, the extensive use of atmospheric electronic effects enrich the melody, the guitars have a more modern hyper polished sound and the vocals become calm and comforting.

“Trance” has a cool harmonious rhythm with a quite modern electronic approach. The steady guitar sound is dirty, the simplistic rock melody flows spontaneously while the instrumental breakdown is more rough with a clear industrial influence.

“On All Hallow’s Eve” is a slower track that revolves around a darker atmosphere with tons of electronically generated sound. There is a significant style change in the chorus which falls in between rebellious punk rock and angry industrial.

“MMXII” is a must have for Killing Joke’s faithful fans because it features the band’s original line up and it shows that the infamous creative force is still alive