Justin Broadrick
Encyclopedia
Justin Karl Michael Broadrick (born 15 August 1969, Birmingham
, England
) 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
.
His first musical project was the band Final
. Initially beginning as a two-piece punk band with a drum machine in 1982, the group recorded its first demo when Broadrick was thirteen years old. The project developed to embrace the power electronics
subgenre of industrial music
in 1983, releasing material on Broadrick's Post Mortem Rekordings cassette label. He revived Final in 1993.
Broadrick later joined the group Fall of Because (founded by G. Christian Green and Paul Neville in 1982) as a drummer and additional vocalist. The group recorded the Extirpate demo cassette in 1986, which contained a number of songs which were later re-worked as songs for Godflesh (including "Life is Easy", "Mighty Trust Krusher", and "Merciless"). The group disbanded in 1988. The Life is Easy compilation album
of demo and live recordings was released in 1999.
Broadrick was asked by Nicholas Bullen
to join Napalm Death
as a guitarist in July 1985, and appeared on the A-side of the band's debut album, Scum. He played with the group until October 1986, when he was offered the position of drummer for Head of David
.
After leaving Head of David
in 1988, he began the project Godflesh
, which went on to record for Earache Records
. Godflesh
disbanded in 2002 (soon after the departure of fellow founding member G. Christian Green), and Broadrick entered musical hiatus until his return with the group Jesu
in 2003.
During his career, Broadrick has maintained a number of temporary side projects, particularly collaborations with Kevin Martin. These include Techno Animal and Curse of the Golden Vampire
; Broadrick also worked with Martin's groups GOD and Ice.
Broadrick has also maintained a parallel career as a producer, producing records and remixes for groups such as Pantera
, Isis
, and Hydra Head
labelmates Pelican
.
Broadrick composed the soundtrack for the TV series Dream Team
.
In 2007, Broadrick began to release limited runs of material on his Avalanche Inc. label, including new material by Final.
He turned down offers to join both Faith No More
and Danzig
. In 2008, Broadrick collaborated with former Swans
vocalist Jarboe
for an album entitled J2. In 2009, Broadrick released the album Disconnected with his new band, Greymachine. In November 2009, Broadrick announced that Godflesh were reforming for a few shows in the summer 2010.
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...
) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
singer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
and drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
. He is best known as a founding member of the band Godflesh
Godflesh
Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham, England. Originally known as Fall of Because, they formed in 1988 by Justin K. Broadrick and G.C. Green and disbanded in 2002. Godflesh's innovative music is widely regarded as a foundational influence on industrial metal and post-metal...
, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
and industrial music
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
.
Biography
Broadrick was born in the council estates of inner Birmingham.His first musical project was the band 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....
. Initially beginning as a two-piece punk band with a drum machine in 1982, the group recorded its first demo when Broadrick was thirteen years old. The project developed to embrace the power electronics
Power electronics (music)
Power electronics was originally coined by William Bennett as part of the sleevenotes to the Whitehouse album Psychopathia Sexualis, and is related to the early industrial records scene but later became more identified with noise music...
subgenre of industrial music
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
in 1983, releasing material on Broadrick's Post Mortem Rekordings cassette label. He revived Final in 1993.
Broadrick later joined the group Fall of Because (founded by G. Christian Green and Paul Neville in 1982) as a drummer and additional vocalist. The group recorded the Extirpate demo cassette in 1986, which contained a number of songs which were later re-worked as songs for Godflesh (including "Life is Easy", "Mighty Trust Krusher", and "Merciless"). The group disbanded in 1988. The Life is Easy compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
of demo and live recordings was released in 1999.
Broadrick was asked by Nicholas Bullen
Nicholas Bullen
-Biography:He is one of the founding members - with Miles Ratledge - of Napalm Death, the band credited with creating the Grindcore genre.The duo had collaborated on fanzines and played together in a number of 'bedroom' bands from 1980 onwards and formed the first line-up of Napalm Death in May...
to join 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 ...
as a guitarist in July 1985, and appeared on the A-side of the band's debut album, Scum. He played with the group until October 1986, when he was offered the position of drummer for 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 ....
.
After leaving 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 began the project Godflesh
Godflesh
Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham, England. Originally known as Fall of Because, they formed in 1988 by Justin K. Broadrick and G.C. Green and disbanded in 2002. Godflesh's innovative music is widely regarded as a foundational influence on industrial metal and post-metal...
, which went on to record for Earache Records
Earache Records
Earache 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
Godflesh
Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham, England. Originally known as Fall of Because, they formed in 1988 by Justin K. Broadrick and G.C. Green and disbanded in 2002. Godflesh's innovative music is widely regarded as a foundational influence on industrial metal and post-metal...
disbanded in 2002 (soon after the departure of fellow founding member G. Christian Green), and Broadrick entered musical hiatus until his return with the group 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....
in 2003.
During his career, Broadrick has maintained a number of temporary side projects, particularly collaborations with Kevin Martin. These include Techno Animal and Curse of the Golden Vampire
Curse of the Golden Vampire
The Curse of the Golden Vampire is an album by electronic artists Alec Empire and Techno Animal, released in 1998. A second Curse Of the Golden Vampire album, entitled Mass Destruction, was released in June 2003 on Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings label, but for unknown reasons Empire was not...
; Broadrick also worked with Martin's groups GOD and Ice.
Broadrick has also maintained a parallel career as a producer, producing records and remixes for groups such as Pantera
Pantera
Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...
, 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...
, and Hydra Head
Hydra Head Records
Hydra Head Records is an independent record label which specializes in heavy metal music, founded in New Mexico by Aaron Turner in 1993...
labelmates Pelican
Pelican (band)
Pelican is a post-metal quartet from Chicago, Illinois.-Biography and description:The band is known for its dense combinations of different melodies and extended track lengths. Its distinctive sound draws from stoner rock, doom metal, post-rock, and other influences...
.
Broadrick composed the soundtrack for the TV series Dream Team
Dream Team (TV series)
Dream Team is a British television series produced by Hewland International which aired on Sky1 and Sky3 from 1997 to 2007; it chronicled the on-field and off-field affairs of the fictional Harchester United Football Club....
.
In 2007, Broadrick began to release limited runs of material on his Avalanche Inc. label, including new material by Final.
He turned down offers to join both 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...
and 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...
. In 2008, Broadrick collaborated with former 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...
vocalist Jarboe
Jarboe
Jarboe is an American singer, songwriter, and keyboardist.Jarboe is a solo artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with the New York City based group Swans. With founder Michael Gira, the duo was the core of Swans until the group broke up in 1998...
for an album entitled J2. In 2009, Broadrick released the album Disconnected with his new band, Greymachine. In November 2009, Broadrick announced that Godflesh were reforming for a few shows in the summer 2010.
Discography
Broadrick also played guitar for Sweet Tooth, who released the album Soft White Underbelly on Earache Records in 1990 (cat no MOSH 26). He is credited as co-writer for all songs. The band also contributed "Fat City" to the compilation, Grindcrusher – The Ultimate Earache, which was also on Earache Records.Remixes
- PanteraPanteraPantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...
– Vulgar Display of PowerVulgar Display of PowerVulgar Display of Power is the sixth studio album by heavy metal band Pantera. It was released through Atco Records, on February 25, 1992. It is the last album where Darrell Abbott is credited as "Diamond Darrell". One of the most influential groove metal albums of the 1990s, Vulgar Display of...
– "Walk" , "Fucking Hostile" Listed as "Biomechanical remix"(es) on Australian Walk EP - IsisIsis (band)Isis was a Los Angeles, California-based post-metal band, founded in Boston, Massachusetts, with a career spanning from 1997 to 2010...
– Celestial – "Celestial (Signal Fills the Void)" (appears on SGNL›05) - PelicanPelican (band)Pelican is a post-metal quartet from Chicago, Illinois.-Biography and description:The band is known for its dense combinations of different melodies and extended track lengths. Its distinctive sound draws from stoner rock, doom metal, post-rock, and other influences...
– Australasia – "Angel Tears" (appears on March into the Sea) - IsisIsis (band)Isis was a Los Angeles, California-based post-metal band, founded in Boston, Massachusetts, with a career spanning from 1997 to 2010...
– OceanicOceanic (Isis album)Oceanic is the second full-length album by American post-metal band Isis, released on September 16, 2002 by Ipecac Recordings.On July 23, 2006, Isis performed Oceanic in its entirety at KOKO, Camden Town, London as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties curated Don't Look Back series. This performance...
– "Hym" (appears on Oceanic Remixes and ReinterpretationsOceanic Remixes and ReinterpretationsIn reviewing, Patrick Slevin of the Aquarian Weekly gave an effusive verdict, commanding that “everyone else should buy Oceanic first, then buy this.” He argues that Remixes “respects the overall spirit and feel of Oceanic, moving into each song with care and deliberate attention, which makes [it]...
) - EarthEarth (band)Earth is an American musical group based in Seattle, Washington, formed in 1989 and led by guitarist Dylan Carlson.Earth's music is nearly all instrumental, and can be divided into two distinct stages...
– Phase 3: Thrones and DominionsPhase 3: Thrones and DominionsPhase 3: Thrones and Dominions is the second full-length studio album by drone band Earth.-Track listing:-Personnel:*Dylan Carlson - Guitars, Percussion*Tommy Hansen - Guitar *Rick Cambern - Drums...
– "Harvey" (appears on Legacy of DissolutionLegacy of DissolutionLegacy of Dissolution is a tribute album featuring remixes of tracks by Earth.-Track listing:...
) - 5ive – Versus – "Soma [Stage 1]", "Soma [Stage 2]" (appears on Versus)
- KnutKnut (band)Knut is a sludge metal/post-hardcore band from Geneva, Switzerland that formed in 1994. Early material was put out on Snuff Records, which was run by Séverin and Mounir. They are currently signed to Hydra Head Records, which is owned and operated by Aaron Turner of Isis...
– ChallengerChallenger (album)-Track listing:#"Whacked Out" – 5:25#"Repressed" – 2:15#"El Niño" – 5:19#"Bite the Bullet" – 2:21#"Neon Guide" – 4:55#"H/Armless" – 3:51#"58.788" – 4:35#"Ice Will" – 3:02#"March" – 19:51-Personnel:*Didier Séverin – vocals*Phillipe Hess – guitar...
– "H/Armless" (appears on Alter) - Agoraphobic NosebleedAgoraphobic NosebleedAgoraphobic Nosebleed is a grindcore band formed in 1994 in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. Its line-up has changed often during the years, leaving the only permanent member Scott Hull , also a guitarist in Pig Destroyer...
– "Flesh of Jesu" (appears on PCP Torpedo/ANbRXPCP Torpedo/ANbRXPCP Torpedo/ANbRX is a 2 CD set that contains the re-release of the long out of print PCP Torpedo 6". The second disc contains "remixes" of various songs from PCP Torpedo...
) - Genghis TronGenghis TronGenghis Tron is a three-piece experimental metal band formed in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York and San Francisco, California. Genghis Tron signed to Relapse Records after releasing two recordings on Crucial Blast. The band is noted for its creative...
- Board Up the HouseBoard Up the HouseBoard Up the House is the second full-length album by the experimental metal band Genghis Tron. The album was recorded and mixed at Godcity Studio from August 29 to September 21, 2007, in Salem, Massachusetts, by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou. It was mastered at New Alliance East by Nick Zampiello...
- "Colony Collapse" (appears on Board Up The House Remixes Volume 1Board Up The House Remixes Volume 1Board Up The House Remixes Volume 1 is the first album in the Board Up The House Remixes series. It was released by Temporary Residence Limited on September 23, 2008...
) - The LemonheadsThe LemonheadsThe Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band first formed in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member....
- Style - "Style (Godflesh Style)" (promotional 12") - ConstantsConstants (band)Constants is a post-rock / shoegaze band from Boston, Massachusetts.- Nostalgia For The Future:Constants was originally formed as a three piece in 2003, consisting of Will Benoit, Ben Fowlie, and Duncan Rich. Their first album "Nostalgia for the Future" was produced by Daryl Rabidoux with...
- "Those Who Came Before Pt. I" (appears on the Stiff Slack Records version of The Foundation, The Machine, The AscensionThe Foundation, The Machine, The AscensionThe Foundation, The Machine, The Ascension is the second studio album by American post rock band Constants. It was released in 2009 in CD and 3LP format.-Track listing:#"Genetics Like Chess Pieces" - 5:56#"Damien" - 3:43...
) - Explosions in the SkyExplosions in the SkyExplosions in the Sky is an American post-rock band from Texas. The band has garnered popularity beyond the post-rock scene for their elaborately developed guitar work, narratively styled instrumentals, what they refer to as "cathartic mini-symphonies," and their enthusiastic and emotional live shows...
- All of a Sudden I Miss EveryoneAll of a Sudden I Miss EveryoneAll of a Sudden I Miss Everyone is the fifth studio album from American post-rock band Explosions in the Sky. It was released February 20, 2007.-Overview:...
- "The Birth and Death of the Day (Jesu Mix)" (appears on the bonus disc of that album) - PyramidsPyramids (band)Pyramids is an experimental rock band from Denton, Texas. They are currently signed to Hydra Head Records. They have two albums, Pyramids and Pyramids with Nadja.- Albums :- External links :* *...
- PyramidsPyramids (album)-Disc 2 - Remixes:...
- "The Echo of Something Lovely [Jesu]" - Extra LifeExtra Life (band)Extra Life is an experimental band from Brooklyn. They are known for using unusual rhythms and time signatures, and for Charlie Looker's unique singing style, which often uses melisma and is reminiscent of medieval and Renaissance music.Other members of Extra Life also play in a number of other...
- "Splayed Flesh EP" - "Made Flesh (Justin K. Broadrick remix)"