Godflesh

by

Godflesh

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I was a Swans fan before I was a Godflesh fan. I actually heard Streetcleaner (their second record) before this debut of theirs. As my friend loaned this to me so I could hear it for the first time, he said, "It's a little different from Streetcleaner, it actually sorta sounds like the Swans." And I agreed. The first few tracks really do sound like a leaner, meaner, more "focused" Cop/Young God era Swans. But listening to this the other day, I noticed something I can't believe I didn't notice 10 years ago: The later tracks (especially Wounds) sound like later Swans, around the Greed/Holy Money era. In any case, I today note the irony in that I almost never listen to the Swans anymore, but I still listen to all of my Godflesh CDs on a fairly regular basis. They've definitely fared better in the test of time. Heavy oppressive sound with absolutely zero treacle.

Remember, Godflesh guitarist/singer J.K.Broadrick once was a member of Napalm Death's legendary fist incarnation, along with N.J.Bullen and Mick Harris, who would later form their own industrial-dub project Scorn (again, with some help from Broadrick for their first longplayer "Vae solis"). This self-titled album is a collection of very early Godflesh tracks and two additional remixes. The music really seems to be opposite of ND's high-speed grindcore. The tracks are often downtempo, and they are as hot, ropy, and devouring as lava, with rumbling bass-lines, droning guitars, and hardly intelligible, croaky vocals. Still, I don't find this album particularly interesting. Godflesh's later-era records like "Songs of L & H" and "Us and them" offer a greater variety of styles and moods and are more accessible than this relatively one-dimensional collection of soundscapes. Not a bad album, though, and probably a worthwhile purchase for hardcore fans.