Killing Joke Requiem: Lokerse 2003

This concert at The Lokerse Festival in the Summer of 2003 is a fine example of the power the band possessed. Heavy and slow, Killing Joke (at least early in their career) was a quasi-metal band dancing to a tune of doom and gloom. They eventually became less heavy and more arty (the latter seems almost impossible) -- more danceable even -- but early on they made some urgent slabs of molten dynamite that oozed with the power of thick guitars, thudding drums, and over-the-top singing. Formed in late 1978, the group's sessions for John Peel's highly-influential BBC Radio shows were ecstatically received and by the end of 1979 they had signed with Island Records, who allowed them to set up their own label, Malicious Damage. They amassed a following of both punk and disco fans with hard-edged but danceable singles like "Psyche" and "Follow the Leader."