Killing Joke

Predicting an imminent apocalypse, singer Jaz Coleman fled to Iceland in 1982, and that sense of looming catastrophe drives much of Killing Joke's music. Pounding tribal drums, Youth's dubby bass and Geordie Walker's vast, metallic guitar tone made the London band one of post-punk's heaviest and most menacing.

'Wardance' and 'Requiem', from their self-titled debut, laid the groundwork, and Night Time brought a darker, more melodic edge with 'Love Like Blood' and 'Eighties', whose riff Nirvana were famously accused of copying on 'Come as You Are'. Metallica later covered 'The Wait', and Dave Grohl drummed on their 2003 album, also named Killing Joke.

Pandemonium, recorded partly inside Egypt's Great Pyramid, roared back in the 90s, and the original line-up reunited for Absolute Dissent, MMXII and Pylon before Walker's death in 2023.