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Godflesh
 

Godflesh was an industrial metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1988 by Justin K. Broadrick (guitar, vocals, and programming) and G. C. Green (bass). The group disbanded in 2002.

Sound and influences

Inspired by Big Black, Killing Joke, Swans, and Throbbing Gristle, as well as fellow Brummies Black Sabbath, Godflesh were among the pioneers of industrial metal, influencing well-known bands such as Danzig, Faith No More, Fear Factory, Helmet, Korn, Metallica, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, and even the Beastie Boys. *) Their influence can be heard even more distinctly in bands such as Pitchshifter and Isis.

Godflesh is known for their unique mixture of industrial drum machine beats with droning, discordant guitar and powerful, intermittent bass. (On their earlier albums, the rhythms, synths, and samples are credited to "Machine" or "Machines". Later, Godflesh would make user of human drummers Brian Mantia and Ted Parsons.) Their eerie, slow, and repetitive style is commonly described as "apocalyptic". *

Broadrick's vocals are often guttural, making use of something akin to the death grunt technique, yet they also at times show a softer, more melodic side, as in "I Wasn't Born to Follow" from 1992's Pure. Godflesh lyrics are terse, cryptic, and bleak, often emphasizing duality or opposition, as illustrated by the opening lines of "Defeated" (from 2001's Hymns):

Everything I build I destroy
Everything I love always hurts
Everything I hate I'd rather love
Everything I am is everything I'm not
Paranoia and martyrdom are also common themes in Godflesh's music and cover art.

Career trajectory

In 1982, Green founded Fall of Because (named after a Killing Joke song) with Paul Neville. Broadrick, who had been playing guitar as a founding member of Napalm Death, soon joined the group as drummer and vocalist. Broadrick then spent a couple of years (1986-1988) as a member of Head of David. In 1988, he and Green created Godflesh.

Godflesh established a presence in underground music with albums such as Streetcleaner and Pure, which demonstrated the effectiveness of lo-fi production values in heavy music. A brief flirtation with major label Columbia Records in 1994 for Selfless the Merciless EP saw the duo take on a more high-end production approach. In 1996 Godflesh released Songs of Love and Hate, which featured the drumming of Brian Mantia (Guns N' Roses, Primus). The next album, 1999's Us and Them, saw the group experimenting with a more electronic, drum and bass-oriented sound in which the guitar played a less central role. In 2001 Godflesh released the double album retrospective In All Languages. That same year they released an album of new material, Hymns, which featured the precise drumming of new band member Ted Parsons (formerly of Swans and Prong) and brought the band back to its slow and heavy roots while retaining elements of its experiments with electronica.

Green left the band in late 2001. It was announced that he would be replaced by former Killing Joke and Prong bassist Paul Raven; however, Godflesh disbanded in 2002 when Broadrick suffered a nervous breakdown just before departing for a tour of the U.S. * As a kind of parting gift, the group released a remastered version of their extremely rare 1994 EP Messiah, which was doubled in length with all new remixes. Broadrick and Parsons went on to form Jesu in 2003.

During its fourteen year lifespan Godflesh toured with numerous bands, including Danzig, Front Line Assembly, L7, Loop, Ministry, Napalm Death, Nirvana, Prong, Revolting Cocks, Skinny Puppy, and Type O Negative. *

Collaborators and side projects

Several other musicians have recorded and played live with Godflesh. Paul Neville rejoined Broadrick and Green for the Streetcleaner and Slavestate albums. Robert Hampson, former guitarist for Loop, appeared on Pure and Cold World. (In 1991 Loop released the split 7" single Loopflesh covering the Godflesh song "Like Rats" while Godflesh performed Loop's "Straight to Your Heart".)

Members of Godflesh have been involved in numerous side projects, allowing them to explore interests in other musical genres, including electronica, ambient, dub, and 2step. Broadrick has collaborated with Kevin Martin and Alec Empire, among others. *

Quotes

Discography

Albums

EPs

  • Godflesh (Swordfish, 1988)
  • Slavestate (Earache, 1991)
  • Cold World (Combat, 1992)
  • Merciless (Earache, 1994)
  • Messiah (Relapse, 2003)

Compilations and remixes

  • Selfless/Merciless (Earache, 1996)
  • Slateman/Cold World (Earache, 1996)
  • Covered In Black - An Industrial Tribute To The Kings Of High Voltage AC/DC (1997)
  • Love and Hate in Dub (Earache, 1997)
  • In All Languages (Earache, 2001)

Trivia

  • The Aztec term for peyote is teo-nancacyl, or God's flesh. (Broadrick claims that this is just a pleasant coincidence. [http://www.godflesh.com/)
  • The image on the cover of Streetcleaner is from a scene in the movie Altered States in which William Hurt's character is having his first hallucinogenic experience. Photos from the insert sleeve for the album are taken from David Lynch's Eraserhead (another major influence cited by Broadrick). * Most of Godflesh's artwork has been borrowed from various movies Justin and Ben always liked.
  • It is no accident that both Leonard Cohen and Godflesh have albums called Songs of Love and Hate. In "Mothra" (from Pure), Godflesh "borrows" the lyrics "Your pain is no credential here / It's just the shadow of my wound" from the song "Avalanche" on the aforementioned Cohen album. [http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/avalanche.html
  • Broadrick's independent record label is named "Avalanche Inc." *
  • Contrary to popular belief, the album cover artwork for "Songs of Love and Hate" and "Love and Hate in Dub" are photographs in two complete different locations. Both may have a cross and a factory backdrop setting but they were taken in two unrelated locations. *
  • Kirk Hammett (of Metallica) has been a big fan of the band for quite some time. In 1994 even recorded some material w/ Justin (you'll never find this though). One day, Godflesh showed the video for Crush My Soul (by Andres Serrano) to Kirk and he loved it. Metallica later used a piece by Andres for their cover on the album Load. In a later interview w/ Kirk, he is asked where the band got the idea of the cover. Kirk tells the interviewer that he saw something on television about Andres Serrano and that is how it came about, not giving any credit to (or even aknowledging the existence of) Godflesh. Justin says, "There's no copyright on Serrano. We'll be the first to admit that. But we planted the seed, and unfortunately we're not getting the credit, obviously." Fortunately, in at least one situation, Kirk has commended the band and also has stated that they are the "heaviest band in existence". *
  • Justin Broadrick has been asked to join Danzig and Faith No More as a band member full time but Justin wanted to be focused on Godflesh during the time. *
  • Once Earache merged with Sony (Columbia) Godflesh got the chance to do soundtracks and the like. In 1995, they appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Hideaway. They also appear in the movie itself. During one of the club scenes, they are playing onstage in the background, performing the song Nihil. The best part is that they get to play the entire song! *

References

External links

Peel Sessions artists | English musical groups | Industrial music groups | Music from Birmingham, England

Godflesh | Godflesh | Godflesh

 

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