Magna Invocatio - A Gnostic Mass For Choir And Orchestra

Jaz Coleman, founding member with the legendary Killing Joke, releases 'Magna Invocatio - A Gnostic Mass For Choir And Orchestra Inspired By The Sublime Music Of Killing Joke' through Spinefarm Records, the first release of the MASTERSCORE Series. As an artist of fierce intellect and purpose, Jaz Coleman - now celebrating 40 years as Killing Joke's iconic front-man - has been driven by twin musical loves: experimental rock and classical music.

Since coming together in 1978, Killing Joke has played a pivotal role in both alternative music and culture; the intensity of the band's repertoire has long been revered by fans, peers and critics, and this continues to hold sway, with most recent studio album 'Pylon' (Spinefarm Records, 2015), showing the original line-up at its potent, pointed best. What Coleman feels is sometimes passed over, however, is the element of "panoramic beauty" underpinning the weight and flow of many of Killing Joke's songs, the likes of 'The Raven King', 'In Cythera' and more - an element that fitting orchestration might elevate and underline…

With 'Magna Invocatio…', Coleman underlines these elements in grand, emotional style. Recorded with Russia's oldest orchestra, the St Petersburg Philharmonic, this stirring body of work taps into the more melodic, uplifting aspects of the KJ musical canon, using Coleman's ongoing journey with this hugely influential UK outfit, something central to his being since later teenage years, as the consummate vehicle for a Gnostic mass (a ritualised celebration of the mysteries of existence)