Review by Maciek on December 16, 2012.

It's hard to write about a band, which is being listed as inspiration to "The Cult, Pearl Jam, Faith No More, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Metallica, Soundgarden and even Kate Bush". That kind of mixture is as complex as KJ's music itself.

Been often called Post-Punk or Industrial Rock, this band is quite a lot metal, too. Ever since I've heard 'The Death And Resurrection Show' playing Need For Speed Underground 2 I knew that this band has that "something" which makes them stand out in the crowd of many other bands. And I wanted more. I think most of it is because of Jaz's vocals, which can be soft and smooth, but his more aggressive ways of singing are closer to what you can hear in Prong or even Motorhead. And you can hear Jaz screaming quite often on this production. And just like other band's albums, "MMXII" is politically charged with lyrics about the significance of this year (including controversy around Mayans and their alleged prophecy), but also about the overall state of the world and the spiritual experience which is KJ concert. As Jaz described this album himself: "This year is about getting our collective dreams in order, restoring the biosphere, the idea of well-being as opposed to economic growth, the idea of partnership and co-creation with fellow human beings, moving away from national boundaries and more towards what Schiller and Beethoven were saying in some of their work."

Musically the album is really varied between calm 'In Cythera', Industrial 'Primobile', Punk Rock in 'Corporate Elect' to Progressive 'Glitch'. There are a lot of styles in here, but definitely the album fits easily your metal collection as starting from first track 'Pole Shift' there are many occasions for some good headbanging.

Since the band re-united in 2003, this is definitely the best album and the band is on their way up. Atmospheric album with charismatic vocals and interesting lyrics (even if you don't agree with Jaz's point of view), strong position on metal shelves of 2012.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 10
Originality: 10
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.6 out of 10