Hosannas From The Basements of Hell - Reception

Reception

Reception for Hosannas from the Basements of Hell was near universal. David Jeffries of Allmusic said "the Joke sound absolutely free and grand here, allowing songs to stretch well past the five-minute mark and just begging the detractors to have at it by sitting firm on their classic delivery", adding that "newcomers may find this all too much to take in, while old fans can cherish the band's most personal album as another victory." Adrien Begrand of PopMatters called the album "everything we’d ever want from a Killing Joke record" and "their finest album in well over a decade."

Keith Bergman, writer for Blabbermouth, described the album as "...perfect post-millennial music, the sound of a world merrily driving itself off the deep end. KILLING JOKE are a primal scream of humanity drowning in a tsunami of man-made disorder, headed straight to hell and laughing the whole way down, like Slim Pickens riding the A-bomb at the end of "Dr. Strangelove". You won't find a more blown-out, wild-eyed freakout on the record store shelves any time soon."

Paul Brannigan, editor for Kerrang! magazine, argued "Out of step with the world they might well be, but Killing Joke's righteous frenzy still feels horribly necessary."

Alec A. Head of Satan Stole My Teddybear said that "while they still are content with beating the living shit out of you with simplistically brutal but appropriately dense music, they still have a few new tricks up their collective sleeve, even if the album itself does not necessarily surpass its predecessor", adding that "the title track, 'Invocation', and 'Implosion' are simply among the best songs the Joke has ever put to tape." The BNR Metal Pages listed the album at #1 on its 2006 Top Ten List.