Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions - Killing Joke

The gaggingly awful monstrosity of Outside the Gate behind them, Jaz Coleman and Geordie came to their senses, brought in ex-Public Image Ltd drum fiend Martin Atkins as a new partner for Paul Raven, and fired up a new version of Killing Joke that finally recaptured the sprawling spirit of the earliest days. Wisely, Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions didn't simply try and replicate the debut or Revelations -- the group collectively allows for the later abilities of the members and incorporates that into the performances. Consider Coleman's singing on the opening rampage "Money Is Not Our God" -- while the song itself rips along with the sheer fire of 1980 intact, Geordie in particular just going off, Coleman saves his now-recovered shout for the title phrase and the occasional verse. His later, smoother style, meanwhile, takes the fore elsewhere, a surprising but effective balance of control and chaos. Geordie, meanwhile, if anything sounds better than ever, his ear for brutally effective, memorable and tightly wound guitar riffs combined with just enough technical flash to define what a guitar hero should really sound like. Songs like "Inside the Termite Mound" and "North of the Border" keep the slightly more accessible, calmer side of late-'80s Killing Joke at least partially present, but never succumb to total polish. If there's a definite flaw to Extremities, it's that too much of the album sounds like a response to the band's descendents -- most clearly Ministry, with whom Atkins had already worked -- than its own effort. At other parts, as on "Struggle" and sections of "The Beautiful Dead," the group creates generic speed/thrash instead of its own stronger variations. It's not the worst of sins, though -- certainly not in comparison with Killing Joke's immediate past -- and the end result confirms the core Coleman/Geordie partnership as the strong beast it is. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide