Synopsis

Killing Joke's "Millenium" video avoids conventional band performance footage in favor of a rapid-fire montage of unsettling images. Flashes of crowds, machinery, urban scenes, religious and political imagery, and a huge truck create a sense of mounting pressure and impending catastrophe. The truck repeatedly appears as a subliminal threat, bearing down on the viewer like an unavoidable force. The deliberately fragmented editing mirrors the song's apocalyptic mood and its vision of the end of a century as a period of turmoil and inevitable change.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was Killing Joke's first music video. The band chose not to appear performing, opting instead for a highly edited visual collage.

• According to a 1994 interview, the production budget was 30,000 pounds, and the footage was shot during a three-week trip to South America.

• The truck is not simply a striking image: the band described it as a subliminal symbol that keeps appearing in flashes, suggesting an approaching upheaval that cannot be escaped.

• "Millenium" was released in 1994 as part of the Pandemonium campaign and reached number 34 on the UK Singles Chart.

• The song's apocalyptic atmosphere was reinforced by the recording of its vocal track in the King's Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Giza, alongside the album tracks "Pandemonium" and "Exorcism."

• The single received rock-video airplay in the United States in 1994, including listings on programs such as Rage and Alternavision.

• The song's title is commonly presented as "Millenium" on Killing Joke releases, although it is also frequently written as the standard English spelling, "Millennium."