What’s THIS For…! is Killing Joke‘s second album and contains all of the muscle and fury of their self-titled debut, only with less synthesizers and a stronger emphasis on thick percussion with ritualistic drum patterns.

Despite being the same amount of tracks, What’s THIS For…! is a noticeable seven minutes longer than its predecessor. This shows as some of the songs tend to drag a bit, relying on the hypnotic, repetitive drumming to help keep them afloat.

However, this doesn’t always work. A few songs would do well to have anything from 30 seconds to a minute taken off of them. The nearly eight-minute “Madness” is the obvious example and perhaps deserving of having more than a minute cut from it (but it does have one of Killing Joke’s greatest basslines).

Also, while the production on the debut album was incredible, this follow-up sounds a bit flat and muddy, though the thick drumming that’s constant throughout the album may be biasing me a bit on that judgment.

There’s no songs on here as immediately compelling as “Requiem,” “Wardance,” and “The Wait” from the previous album, but there are segments that come close. Like nearly all of Killing Joke‘s albums, What’s THIS For…! still comes recommended.