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Taking a post-punk ethos into a darker world of heavy metal and more experimental synth pop, Killing Joke became cult heroes of the UK's alternative scene in the 1980s and left a lasting influence on the likes of Depeche Mode, Metallica, Nirvana and Soundgarden. Formed in London in 1978, their big break came when a session for legendary Radio 1 DJ John Peel became a huge success and resulted in a deal with Island Records and debut album Killing Joke (1980). Single Follow The Leaders became an early anthem as the band started to use controversial imagery and dabble with the occult. In 1982 front man Jaz Coleman, bass player Martin "Youth" Glover and guitarist Geordie Walker moved to Iceland to avoid what they believed was an impending apocalypse, but they returned with the goth pop of fourth album Fire Dances (1984) and scored their biggest hit with the single Love Like Blood. Night Time (1985) became their best-selling album but the band quickly took a turn towards a more experimental, electronic sound on Outside The Gate (1988) before delivering the thunderous guitar-driven Extremities, Dirt & Various Repressed Emotions (1990). Always darkly strange and eccentric, the band split in 1996 but reformed in 2002 and released their 15th studio album MMXII in 2012. Artist biography compiled by BDS/West 10. All rights reserved
