The Mission and Killing Joke

Two heavyweight contenders for the “Still Slogging It Out, Goth Legends” award, The Mish and KJ. Once rumoured to be playing a three band set of gigs with the Cult, KJ threw in the towel early and left T’Mish and T’Cult to co-headline an outstanding short UK tour. But enough of that, we’re here for T’Mish. Starting life as The Sisterhood, Wayne, Adam and the other two kicked of their new direction, after saying ByeBye to Messer Eldritch and T’Sisters, with a string of low key dates in Europe culminating in a London return as special guests to T’Cult. This stimulated the Eldritch fella to bang out some tunes, with the help of James Ray, calling this incarnation The Sisterhood just to piss Wayne and the boys off. Not to be downtrodden or deterred, The Mission were duly christened and a spankingly brilliant 12” single was released to celebrate.

Despite the primitive synths, the germination of the classic Killing Joke sound is here. The four tracks (three originals and one dub variation of the title track) all have that martial industrial beat and underlying aggression that the band is known for. What isn't fully formed yet is the abrasive, metallic guitars and Jaz Coleman's patented rage that would eventually define them. There are flashes, like the gritty "Almost Red" and "Are You Receiving", but tracks like "Nervous System" and the dub take on the title track "Turn To Red" groove more than they assault. It would take another year of marinating to completely bring that side of the band out with their brilliant debut.

Ripped from a crackly original 12” single to MP3 @ 320kbps

The Mission; Serpents Kiss (I) 12”

A.     Serpents Kiss

B1.  Wake (RSV)

B2.  Naked And Savage

Allegedly ripped from an original 12” single to MP3 @ 320kbps

Killing Joke; Almost Red 12”

A1.  Almost Red

A2.  Nervous System

B1.  Are You Receiving

B2.  Turn To Red