Godflesh
Encyclopedia
Godflesh are an English
industrial metal
band from Birmingham
, England
. Originally known as Fall of Because, they formed in 1988 by Justin K. Broadrick (guitar
, vocals, and programming) and G.C. Green (bass
) and disbanded in 2002. Godflesh's innovative music is widely regarded as a foundational influence on industrial metal and post-metal
. In 2009, the group announced their intention to reform for summer 2010.
song) with Paul Neville
. Broadrick, who had been playing guitar as a member of Napalm Death
, joined the group in mid-1985 as drummer and vocalist. He left the band in 1987. Broadrick then spent a couple of years (1986–1988) as a member of Head of David
. In 1988, he contacted Green about reforming Fall of Because. Justin decided to take over on guitars and they chose to use a drum machine to help out. They also decided to change their name to Godflesh.
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 and 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 Bryan Mantia
(Guns N' Roses
, Primus
, Praxis
). 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
and hip-hop
.
and Prong bassist Paul Raven. In the interim, however, Broadrick's thirteen year relationship with his girlfriend dissolved and Broadrick suffered a nervous breakdown
shortly before departing for a tour of the United States
. Broadrick recalls the breakdown as a "real Brian Wilson
moment" and said that he "felt paralyzed by the stress, which had been building for several months, and I literally couldn't get out of bed. I was numb and couldn't move, so when the car came to pick me up to take me to the airport, I ran and hid at another friend's house in Birmingham {England}."
The canceled tour caused even more problems for Broadrick. Bus companies had been hired; the groups High on Fire
and Halo had been booked to support. And everyone who lost money came after Broadrick. "I was getting death threats from the bus company in L.A.," Broadrick said. "I lost close to $35,000, which I did not have at all. I was broke and had to sell my house and pay off all my debt on credit cards. I pretty much did nothing for four months besides drink heavily." On a poster promoting Jesu
's first EP Heart Ache, the caption read as follows "Godflesh is dead, long live Jesu."
Broadrick issued a statement about the end of Godflesh:
(Clisson
, France).
Asked in a February 2010 interview about Godflesh's future, Broadrick replied, "Godflesh will not commit to anything but Hellfest currently. I am unsure as to where we will go from there, if we go anywhere at all." He also revealed that the band will not rule out the possibility of new material.
Godflesh played at the 2010 Supersonic Festival in Birmingham, UK, on October 23, co-headlining with Swans. They have also been confirmed for the 2011 edition of the Roadburn festival
the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland, where they will perform their first album
in its entirety.
In December 2010, Broadrick told Decibel magazine that the band is slowly putting together ideas for a new studio album. He explained, "It's something we're discussing all the time, and I do have bits and pieces of material. But it's something we'd really like to develop. It'd be quite easy to knock out eight to 10 in-character songs and release it as quickly as possible to capitalize on the popularity of the group, but it would feel entirely wrong. If it's another two years until another Godflesh record, so be it. The most important thing is making a record that stands up with the rest of the back catalogue. I do have this in me again, though."
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
, industrial hip-hop
, and digital hardcore
. Broadrick has collaborated with Kevin Martin and Alec Empire
, among others. Broadrick's current projects include Jesu
and Final
.
, noise rock
band Swans, ambient music
creator Brian Eno
and fellow Birmingham
heavy metal
band Black Sabbath
, Godflesh were among the pioneers of industrial metal.
Godflesh is known for their unique mixture of drum machine
beats with droning, discordant guitar and powerful, intermittent bass. On their earlier albums, the rhythm
s, synths, and sample
s are credited to "Machine" or "Machines". Later, Godflesh made use of human drummers Bryan Mantia
and Ted Parsons
. Their eerie, slow, and repetitive style is commonly described as "apocalyptic". The Godflesh sound was once described as "Pornography
-era Cure
on Quaaludes".
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
. Paranoia
and martyrdom are also common themes in Godflesh's music and cover art.
Broadrick has also taken inspiration from Leonard Cohen
; both artists have albums titled Songs of Love and Hate
. In the song "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.
, Metallica
, Danzig
, Faith No More
, Fear Factory
, Converge
, Isis
, Pitchshifter
, and Ministry
, among others. Justin Broadrick was asked to join Danzig and Faith No More as a band member full time, but Broadrick wanted to focus on Godflesh.
is a still from the cult 1966 John Frankenheimer
film Seconds
. The image on the cover of Streetcleaner
is a still from the movie Altered States
, a 1980 horror film by director Ken Russell
in which the film's protagonist, played by William Hurt, explores other states of consciousness with the aid of hallucinogens and an isolation chamber. Photos from the insert sleeve for the album are taken from David Lynch
's Eraserhead
(another major influence cited by Broadrick). The cover of Merciless
is a still from the 1943 experimental film Meshes of the Afternoon
.
Godflesh showed the video for "Crush My Soul
" (by Andres Serrano
) to Kirk Hammett
and he loved it. Metallica later used a piece of footage by Serrano for their cover on the album Load
. In a later interview with Hammett, 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 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." Hammett once gave Broadrick a custom Fender Stratocaster after his was stolen on tour, and has commended the band by stating that they are the "heaviest band in existence".
After Earache merged with Sony
(Columbia), Godflesh got the chance to do soundtracks. In 1995, they appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Hideaway
. They also appeared in the movie itself. During one of the club scenes, they are playing onstage in the background, performing the song "Nihil".
Former members
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
industrial metal
Industrial metal
Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial music and many different types of heavy metal, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Founding industrial metal acts include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Industrial metal's...
band from Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Originally known as Fall of Because, they formed in 1988 by Justin K. Broadrick (guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals, and programming) and G.C. Green (bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) and disbanded in 2002. Godflesh's innovative music is widely regarded as a foundational influence on industrial metal and post-metal
Post-metal
Post-metal is a music genre, a mixture between the genres of post-rock and heavy metal.Hydra Head Records owner and Isis frontman Aaron Turner originally termed the genre "thinking man's metal", demonstrating that his band was trying to move away from common metal conventions...
. In 2009, the group announced their intention to reform for summer 2010.
Formation (1982–1988)
In 1982, Green founded Fall of Because (named after a Killing JokeKilling Joke
Killing Joke are an English post-punk band formed in October 1978 in Notting Hill, London, England; other sources report the band formed in early 1979.Related news articles: Founding members Jaz Coleman and Geordie Walker have been the only constant members.A key influence on industrial rock,...
song) with Paul Neville
Paul Neville (musician)
Paul Neville is an underground experimental industrial metal guitarist and musician from Birmingham, England.He is best known as the second guitarist in the seminal industrial metal band Godflesh on the second half of their Streetcleaner album and on the Slavestate EP as well as a tour member of...
. Broadrick, who had been playing guitar as a member of Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
, joined the group in mid-1985 as drummer and vocalist. He left the band in 1987. Broadrick then spent a couple of years (1986–1988) as a member of Head of David
Head of David
Head of David was a noise rock/stoner band of the late 1980s that featured vocalist Stephen R. Burroughs and ex-Napalm Death member Justin Broadrick ....
. In 1988, he contacted Green about reforming Fall of Because. Justin decided to take over on guitars and they chose to use a drum machine to help out. They also decided to change their name to Godflesh.
Career trajectory (1989–2001)
Godflesh established a presence in underground musicUnderground music
Underground music comprises a range of different musical genres that operate outside of mainstream culture. Such music can typically share common values, such as the valuing of sincerity and intimacy; an emphasis on freedom of creative expression; an appreciation of artistic creativity...
with albums such as Streetcleaner
Streetcleaner
Streetcleaner is the second release and the debut full length album by the band Godflesh, following the release of their self-titled EP in 1988. It was released in 1989 on Earache Records...
and Pure
Pure (Godflesh album)
Pure is Godflesh's second official album, and one of the band's most popular and influential releases. It was released in 1992 on Earache Records...
, which demonstrated the effectiveness of lo-fi production values in heavy music. A brief flirtation with major label Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1994 for Selfless and the Merciless
Merciless (EP)
Merciless is an EP released by industrial band Godflesh in 1994 on Earache/Columbia.The EP was re-released along with the Selfless album on one disc on Earache as the compilation "Selfless/Merciless", in 1996....
EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
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 Bryan Mantia
Bryan Mantia
Bryan "Brain" Mantia is a contemporary rock drummer. He has played with bands like Primus, Guns N' Roses, Praxis and Godflesh, and with other popular performers such as Tom Waits, Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins and Buckethead...
(Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
, Primus
Primus (band)
Primus is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Jay Lane. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by Lane, though the latter two departed...
, Praxis
Praxis (band)
Praxis was the name of an ever-changing musical project, led by prolific producer Bill Laswell. Praxis combine elements of different musical genres such as funk, jazz, hip-hop and heavy metal into highly improvised music...
). The next album, 1999's Us and Them, saw the group experimenting with a more electronic, drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
-oriented sound in which the guitar played a less central role. In 2001 Godflesh released the double album retrospective In All Languages
In All Languages (Godflesh album)
In All Languages is a compilation album released by British industrial metal band Godflesh on 24 July 2001. It is a double album. A videos DVD with the same name was also released.-History:...
. 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
Swans (band)
Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...
and Prong) and brought the band back to its slow and heavy roots while retaining elements of its experiments with electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
and hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
.
Dissolution (2002)
Green left the band in late 2001. It was announced that Green would be replaced by former Killing JokeKilling Joke
Killing Joke are an English post-punk band formed in October 1978 in Notting Hill, London, England; other sources report the band formed in early 1979.Related news articles: Founding members Jaz Coleman and Geordie Walker have been the only constant members.A key influence on industrial rock,...
and Prong bassist Paul Raven. In the interim, however, Broadrick's thirteen year relationship with his girlfriend dissolved and Broadrick suffered a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
shortly before departing for a tour of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Broadrick recalls the breakdown as a "real Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
moment" and said that he "felt paralyzed by the stress, which had been building for several months, and I literally couldn't get out of bed. I was numb and couldn't move, so when the car came to pick me up to take me to the airport, I ran and hid at another friend's house in Birmingham {England}."
The canceled tour caused even more problems for Broadrick. Bus companies had been hired; the groups High on Fire
High on Fire
High on Fire is a stoner metal band from Oakland, California, that was formed in 1998. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, previously played guitar for the influential stoner doom band Sleep.-History:...
and Halo had been booked to support. And everyone who lost money came after Broadrick. "I was getting death threats from the bus company in L.A.," Broadrick said. "I lost close to $35,000, which I did not have at all. I was broke and had to sell my house and pay off all my debt on credit cards. I pretty much did nothing for four months besides drink heavily." On a poster promoting Jesu
Jesu (band)
Jesu is a post-metal band formed in 2003 by Justin Broadrick following the breakup of Godflesh. Jesu was the name of the last song on the final Godflesh release, Hymns, and Broadrick decided to adopt it as the name of this project....
's first EP Heart Ache, the caption read as follows "Godflesh is dead, long live Jesu."
Broadrick issued a statement about the end of Godflesh:
- On April 10, 2002, I disbanded Godflesh. This was something I had painfully been pondering since GC Greens' departure from the band in Oct 2001. Regrettably it took until the day of leaving for a lengthy U.S tour for the realization to finally take its toll on me. Unfortunately the finality of the decision and the responsibilities of making the decision proved too much for me to bare, and I collapsed under the weight. I found that without GC Green, Godflesh is not Godflesh, and him leaving proved to be an omen for me. I also feel that everything we originally intended or even imagined with Godflesh we have done. My only regret has been the hurting of both remaining band members Ted Parsons and Paul Raven, and disappointing those that believe in Godflesh worldwide... In the near future, my new rock project Jesu will surface. So this is by no means the end of my songwriting/guitar/vocalizing. Simply the end of a chapter. Endless gratitude to all those that have believed in and supported Godflesh throughout the 14 year history. You know who you are... Long live the new flesh...
Reunion (2009–present)
In November 2009, a reunion show was officially announced for the 2010 edition of the Hellfest Summer Open AirHellfest Summer Open Air
Hellfest is an annual music festival which takes place in Clisson, France in mid-June. It is held within the Val de Moine sport complex in Clisson, approximately 35 km south-east of the city of Nantes, and approximately 400 km south-west of the nation's capital Paris. Billed as an "extreme music...
(Clisson
Clisson
Clisson , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique département in western France.It is situated at the confluence of the Sèvre Nantaise and the Moine southeast of Nantes ....
, France).
Asked in a February 2010 interview about Godflesh's future, Broadrick replied, "Godflesh will not commit to anything but Hellfest currently. I am unsure as to where we will go from there, if we go anywhere at all." He also revealed that the band will not rule out the possibility of new material.
Godflesh played at the 2010 Supersonic Festival in Birmingham, UK, on October 23, co-headlining with Swans. They have also been confirmed for the 2011 edition of the Roadburn festival
Roadburn Festival
Roadburn Festival is an annual international rock festival in Tilburg in the Netherlands held since 1995.-2012 edition:The event will take place in Tilburg from April 12 to 15 at 013 and Midi Theatre.It was sold out in 7 minutes.Thursday, April 12...
the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland, where they will perform their first album
Streetcleaner
Streetcleaner is the second release and the debut full length album by the band Godflesh, following the release of their self-titled EP in 1988. It was released in 1989 on Earache Records...
in its entirety.
In December 2010, Broadrick told Decibel magazine that the band is slowly putting together ideas for a new studio album. He explained, "It's something we're discussing all the time, and I do have bits and pieces of material. But it's something we'd really like to develop. It'd be quite easy to knock out eight to 10 in-character songs and release it as quickly as possible to capitalize on the popularity of the group, but it would feel entirely wrong. If it's another two years until another Godflesh record, so be it. The most important thing is making a record that stands up with the rest of the back catalogue. I do have this in me again, though."
Collaborators and side projects
Several other musicians have recorded and played live with Godflesh. Paul NevillePaul Neville (musician)
Paul Neville is an underground experimental industrial metal guitarist and musician from Birmingham, England.He is best known as the second guitarist in the seminal industrial metal band Godflesh on the second half of their Streetcleaner album and on the Slavestate EP as well as a tour member of...
rejoined Broadrick and Green for the Streetcleaner
Streetcleaner
Streetcleaner is the second release and the debut full length album by the band Godflesh, following the release of their self-titled EP in 1988. It was released in 1989 on Earache Records...
and Slavestate
Slavestate
Slavestate is the third EP by the band Godflesh. It was released in 1991 on Earache Records.A three song remix EP called Slavestate Remixes saw a limited vinyl release that same year...
albums. Robert Hampson
Robert Hampson
Robert Hampson is an English musician and composer, known primarily as a guitarist in the band Loop, which he co-founded in London in 1985 with his then girlfriend Becky Stewart . Loop recorded three albums, the last of which made the U.K...
, former guitarist for Loop
Loop (band)
Loop was a South London band founded in 1986 by Robert Hampson and his wife, Bex, and active until 1991.-Career:The band was formed in 1986 by Robert Hampson , with wife Bex on drums. Bex was soon replaced by John Wills and Glen Ray, with James Endeacott on guitar...
, appeared on Pure
Pure (Godflesh album)
Pure is Godflesh's second official album, and one of the band's most popular and influential releases. It was released in 1992 on Earache Records...
and Cold World
Cold World (EP)
Cold World is an EP released by industrial metal band Godflesh. It was initially released in 1991 on Relativity Records.The original EP was discontinued, but it was re-released along with the Slateman single on one disc through Earache as the compilation "Slateman/Cold World", in 1996.-Track...
. (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
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
, ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
, industrial hip-hop
Industrial hip-hop
Industrial hip hop is a fusion of the dissonance and dystopian subject matter of industrial music with the rhythms or vocals of hip hop music.-1980s:The origins of industrial hip hop are in the work of Mark Stewart, Bill Laswell, and Adrian Sherwood...
, and digital hardcore
Digital hardcore
Digital hardcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk incorporating influences from electronic music. Digital hardcore fuses elements of hardcore punk with various forms of electronic music...
. Broadrick has collaborated with Kevin Martin and Alec Empire
Alec Empire
Alec Empire is a German musician who is best known as a founding member of the band Atari Teenage Riot. Also a prolific and distinguished solo artist, producer and DJ, he has released well over a hundred albums, EPs and singles and remixed over seventy tracks for various artists including Björk...
, among others. Broadrick's current projects include Jesu
Jesu (band)
Jesu is a post-metal band formed in 2003 by Justin Broadrick following the breakup of Godflesh. Jesu was the name of the last song on the final Godflesh release, Hymns, and Broadrick decided to adopt it as the name of this project....
and Final
Final (band)
Final is a project of Justin Broadrick, creator of the band Godflesh, which he started when he was just 13 years old. Unlike Godflesh, Final is primarily electronic in nature, taking on a space-like, dark ambient sound....
.
Musical style
Drawing influence from power electronics forefathers WhitehouseWhitehouse (band)
Whitehouse are a pioneering English power electronics band formed in 1980, largely credited for the founding of the power electronics subgenre.-History and personnel:...
, noise rock
Noise rock
Noise rock describes a style of post-punk rock music that became prominent in the 1980s. Noise rock makes use of the traditional instrumentation and iconography of rock, but incorporates atonality and especially dissonance, and also frequently discards usual songwriting conventions.-Style:Noise...
band Swans, ambient music
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
creator Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
and fellow Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
, Godflesh were among the pioneers of industrial metal.
Godflesh is known for their unique mixture of drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
beats with droning, discordant guitar and powerful, intermittent bass. On their earlier albums, the rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
s, synths, and sample
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
s are credited to "Machine" or "Machines". Later, Godflesh made use of human drummers Bryan Mantia
Bryan Mantia
Bryan "Brain" Mantia is a contemporary rock drummer. He has played with bands like Primus, Guns N' Roses, Praxis and Godflesh, and with other popular performers such as Tom Waits, Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins and Buckethead...
and Ted Parsons
Ted Parsons
Ted Parsons is an American drummer most notable for his membership in bands such as Swans, Prong, Godflesh, Killing Joke and Jesu.-Biography:...
. Their eerie, slow, and repetitive style is commonly described as "apocalyptic". The Godflesh sound was once described as "Pornography
Pornography (album)
NME reviewer Dave Hill wrote, "This record portrays and parades its currency of exposed futility and naked fear with so few distractions or adornments, and so little sense of shame...
-era Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
on Quaaludes".
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
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
. Paranoia
Paranoia
Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
and martyrdom are also common themes in Godflesh's music and cover art.
Broadrick has also taken inspiration from Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
; both artists have albums titled Songs of Love and Hate
Songs of Love and Hate
Songs of Love and Hate is Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen's third album. It was mainly recorded in Columbia Studio A, Nashville, from September 22 to 26, 1970. "Sing Another Song, Boys" was recorded at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 30, 1970. Further recording took place at ...
. In the song "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.
Legacy
Godflesh has been cited as an influence by KornKorn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...
, Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
, Danzig
Danzig (band)
Danzig is an American heavy metal band, formed in 1987 in Lodi, New Jersey. The band serves as a musical outlet for the singer/songwriter Glenn Danzig. Danzig can be seen as the third stage in Glenn Danzig's musical career, preceded by the horror punk bands The Misfits and Samhain...
, Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...
, Fear Factory
Fear Factory
Fear Factory is an American industrial metal band. Formed in 1989, they have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes. Over the course of their career they have evolved from a succession of styles, as well as steadily pioneered a combination of the styles death metal,...
, Converge
Converge (band)
Converge is an American band from Salem, Massachusetts. Playing a blend of hardcore punk and metal since 1990, Converge has helped to define many of the elements of the metalcore genre.-Description:...
, Isis
Isis (band)
Isis was a Los Angeles, California-based post-metal band, founded in Boston, Massachusetts, with a career spanning from 1997 to 2010...
, Pitchshifter
Pitchshifter
Pitchshifter are a British five-piece electronic-metal band from Nottingham, United Kingdom formed in 1989. The band was started by bassist and vocalist Mark Clayden, lead guitarist and programmer Johnny A...
, and Ministry
Ministry (band)
Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...
, among others. Justin Broadrick was asked to join Danzig and Faith No More as a band member full time, but Broadrick wanted to focus on Godflesh.
Cinematic connections
The image on the front of 1988's GodfleshGodflesh (EP)
Godflesh is the eponymous first release by the influential industrial metal band. It was originally released in 1988 through Swordfish Records, and was later reissued by Earache Records with two additional tracks....
is a still from the cult 1966 John Frankenheimer
John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films...
film Seconds
Seconds (film)
Seconds is a 1966 American film starring Rock Hudson. Characterized sometimes as a science fiction thriller, but with elements of horror, neo-noir, psychedelia, and drama, it was directed by John Frankenheimer with a screenplay by Lewis John Carlino. The script was based on a novel by David Ely...
. The image on the cover of Streetcleaner
Streetcleaner
Streetcleaner is the second release and the debut full length album by the band Godflesh, following the release of their self-titled EP in 1988. It was released in 1989 on Earache Records...
is a still from the movie Altered States
Altered States
Altered States is a 1980 American science fiction-horror film adaptation of a novel by the same name by playwright and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky. It was the only novel that Chayefsky ever wrote, as well as his final film. Both the novel and the film are based on John C...
, a 1980 horror film by director Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
in which the film's protagonist, played by William Hurt, explores other states of consciousness with the aid of hallucinogens and an isolation chamber. Photos from the insert sleeve for the album are taken from David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
's Eraserhead
Eraserhead
Eraserhead is a 1977 American surrealist film and the first feature film of David Lynch, who wrote, produced and directed. Lynch began working on the film at the AFI Conservatory, which gave him a $10,000 grant to make the film after he had begun working there following his 1971 move to Los Angeles...
(another major influence cited by Broadrick). The cover of Merciless
Merciless (EP)
Merciless is an EP released by industrial band Godflesh in 1994 on Earache/Columbia.The EP was re-released along with the Selfless album on one disc on Earache as the compilation "Selfless/Merciless", in 1996....
is a still from the 1943 experimental film Meshes of the Afternoon
Meshes of the Afternoon
Meshes of the Afternoon is a short experimental film directed by wife and husband team, Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid. The film's narrative is circular, and repeats a number of psychologically symbolic images, including a flower on a long driveway, a key falling, a door unlocked, a knife in a...
.
Godflesh showed the video for "Crush My Soul
Crush My Soul
"Crush My Soul" is a single by the industrial metal band Godflesh, taken from the album Selfless. It was released in 1995 by Earache Records on 12" vinyl and CD. A music video was also released, which featured the band playing, along with clips of cockfighting and religion-like blasphemy...
" (by Andres Serrano
Andres Serrano
Andres Serrano is an American photographer and artist who has become notorious through his photos of corpses and his use of feces and bodily fluids in his work, notably his controversial work "Piss Christ", a red-tinged photograph of a crucifix submerged in a glass container of what was purported...
) to Kirk Hammett
Kirk Hammett
Kirk Lee Hammett is the lead guitarist and a songwriter in the heavy metal band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, Hammett was ranked 11th on Rolling Stones list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time...
and he loved it. Metallica later used a piece of footage by Serrano for their cover on the album Load
Load (album)
Load is the sixth studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. Released on June 4, 1996 through Elektra Records, it sold 680,000 units in its first week and debuted at #1 on Billboard 200. The album has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and is certified 5x platinum by the RIAA...
. In a later interview with Hammett, 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 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." Hammett once gave Broadrick a custom Fender Stratocaster after his was stolen on tour, and has commended the band by stating that they are the "heaviest band in existence".
After Earache merged with Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
(Columbia), Godflesh got the chance to do soundtracks. In 1995, they appeared on the soundtrack to the movie Hideaway
Hideaway (film)
Hideaway is a 1995 horror film directed by Brett Leonard and based on the novel of the same name by Dean Koontz. It stars Jeff Goldblum, Alicia Silverstone, Christine Lahti, and Jeremy Sisto. In the movie Goldblum plays a man who dies in a car accident, only to be revived two hours later. After...
. They also appeared in the movie itself. During one of the club scenes, they are playing onstage in the background, performing the song "Nihil".
Members
Primary lineup- Justin BroadrickJustin BroadrickJustin Karl Michael Broadrick is a British singer, songwriter, guitarist and drummer. He is best known as a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and industrial music.-Biography:Broadrick was born in the council estates of inner...
– lead vocals, guitars, programming (1988–2002, 2010–present) - G.C. Green – bass, programming (1988–2001, 2010–present)
Former members
- Paul NevillePaul NevillePaul Christopher Neville , Australian politician, has been a Liberal National Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993, representing the Division of Hinkler, Queensland...
– guitars (1989–1991) - Robert HampsonRobert HampsonRobert Hampson is an English musician and composer, known primarily as a guitarist in the band Loop, which he co-founded in London in 1985 with his then girlfriend Becky Stewart . Loop recorded three albums, the last of which made the U.K...
– guitars (1991–1992) - Bryan MantiaBryan MantiaBryan "Brain" Mantia is a contemporary rock drummer. He has played with bands like Primus, Guns N' Roses, Praxis and Godflesh, and with other popular performers such as Tom Waits, Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins and Buckethead...
– drums, percussion (1994–1996) - Ted ParsonsTed ParsonsTed Parsons is an American drummer most notable for his membership in bands such as Swans, Prong, Godflesh, Killing Joke and Jesu.-Biography:...
– drums, percussion (1996–2002) - Steve Hough – guitars (1999)
- Diarmuid Dalton – samples, moog (1999)
- Paul Raven – bass (2002)
Discography
- StreetcleanerStreetcleanerStreetcleaner is the second release and the debut full length album by the band Godflesh, following the release of their self-titled EP in 1988. It was released in 1989 on Earache Records...
(1989) - PurePure (Godflesh album)Pure is Godflesh's second official album, and one of the band's most popular and influential releases. It was released in 1992 on Earache Records...
(1992) - Selfless (1994)
- Songs of Love and Hate (1996)
- Us and Them (1999)
- Hymns (2001)
Further reading
- Thompson, Dave (1994). Industrial Revolution. Los Angeles, CA: Cleopatra.
- Vinylnet Record Label Discographies. link. – Earache Records catalogue numbers.
- [ Godflesh] at Allmusic
External links
- Godflesh fan operated website
- Justin K. Broadrick official blog
- Godflesh at Earache RecordsEarache RecordsEarache Records is a heavy metal-oriented record label based in Nottingham, UK and New York, USA. It helped to pioneer extreme metal by releasing many of the earliest grindcore and death metal records in the period 1988-1994.-History:...
- Godflesh at Relapse RecordsRelapse RecordsRelapse Records is an independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990.-History:The label was started by Matthew F. Jacobson in August, 1990 in his parents' basement in Aurora, Colorado...
Interview 1998 - Epitaph Zine - December 1997 Interview with Roy Christopher
- October 1996 Interview with Roy Christopher