If Trent Reznor can win an Oscar for scoring a movie about Facebook and Ministry’s Al Jourgensen can read the five-day Los Angeles forecast for thousands of perplexed viewers in El Paso, there’s no reason to be surprised by the rebirth of Godflesh. When the band broke up in 2002 following the departure of bassist G.C. Green, its death seemed final. Justin Broadrick fell into a depression, canceling their tour and rarely leaving the house, ultimately solidifying the group's passing in a promotional poster for his next project that proclaimed : “Godflesh is dead. Long live Jesu.” But here comes Broadrick more than a dozen years later, wizened by his years spent making post-rock and, with Green back in tow, promising an LP and an EP from Godflesh in 2014. They return with Decline and Fall, a four-track show of force that laughs off any notions that they've fallen off.
Godflesh’s metal machine music resurfaces at a time where satellites and fiber optics networks muffle the once-unchallenged roars of factory machines. The production of Decline and Fall could be heard as band’s protest against the sanitization of these industrial sounds. Godflesh remain fiercely loyal to lo-fi, treating songs like as caustic exercises in overstimulation. “Ringer” stirs up shivers by way of a direct confrontation with mechanical chaos: the drums lock into a dull, arrythmic throb picked up by the grizzled bass, leaving Broadrick to embellish the din with a combination of throaty growls and slightly soured singing. In turn, “Playing With Fire” welds these rotting melodies together into grating harmonies that attract and repel in equal measure.
Elsewhere, Godflesh reach for the crunchy industrial rock of their prime: half of the EP remains entrenched in rhythmic, bass-heavy metal that some listeners have preemptively dubbed “Kornflesh.” This pejorative, of course, ignores the appropriation of the band’s hybridized sound by more palatable commercial artists such as Faith No More (whose invitation to join Broadrick turned down), Fear Factory, and yes, Korn. At the same time, it captures what makes gnarled jams like “Dogbite” so compelling: namely, that Godflesh can return from a 12-year absence—long after the demise of nu-metal, for that matter—having perfected and refined the style of their co-opters. Such a reclamation manifests itself in “Dog Bite” in the form of a thick, sludgy guitar hook that stomps along to form a rowdy groove, an approach they take again on the title track, this time with a greater emphasis on the drum machine for an unexpected hit of hip-hop.
Avant and yet strangely accessible, industrially-minded but all-embracing, Decline and Fall confirms that a decade-plus-long absence has dulled neither Godflesh’s industrial spirit, nor their devotion to experimentation. Will they be able to sustain that line of energy for an entire album? That question must go unanswered until the release of A World Lit Only By Fire, the band's first full-length since 2001.
Most Read Album Reviews
-
-
Spoon
They Want My Soul
By Ryan Dombal; August 4, 2014
-
Jenny Lewis
The Voyager
By Stephen M. Deusner; July 31, 2014
-
Lewis
Romantic Times
By Stephen M. Deusner; August 1, 2014
-
Bear in Heaven
Time Is Over One Day Old
By Ian Cohen; August 5, 2014
-
Twin Peaks
Wild Onion
By Jayson Greene; August 6, 2014
-
Naomi Punk
Television Man
By Mike Powell; August 6, 2014
-
Stardeath and White Dwarfs
Wastoid
By Evan Minsker; August 1, 2014
-
The #1s
The Number Ones
By Jason Heller; August 5, 2014
-
Lewis
L'amour
By Stephen M. Deusner; May 20, 2014
-
Dikembe
Mediumship
By Ian Cohen; August 1, 2014
-
-
-
Spoon
They Want My Soul
By Ryan Dombal; August 4, 2014
-
Morrissey
World Peace Is None of Your Business
By Marc Hogan; July 14, 2014
-
Various Artists
Wish I Was Here OST
By Larry Fitzmaurice; July 22, 2014
-
The Unicorns
Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?
By Stuart Berman; July 29, 2014
-
La Roux
Trouble in Paradise
By Mike Powell; July 23, 2014
-
Shabazz Palaces
Lese Majesty
By Craig Jenkins; July 28, 2014
-
Cocteau Twins
Blue Bell Knoll/Heaven or Las Vegas
By Stephen Deusner; July 16, 2014
-
Jenny Lewis
The Voyager
By Stephen M. Deusner; July 31, 2014
-
Common
Nobody's Smiling
By David Drake; July 25, 2014
-
Lewis
Romantic Times
By Stephen M. Deusner; August 1, 2014
-
-
-
The Black Keys
Turn Blue
By Larry Fitzmaurice; May 13, 2014
-
Lana Del Rey
Ultraviolence
By Mark Richardson; June 16, 2014
-
Swans
To Be Kind
By Stuart Berman; May 12, 2014
-
Coldplay
Ghost Stories
By Larry Fitzmaurice; May 20, 2014
-
Jack White
Lazaretto
By Stephen M. Deusner; June 9, 2014
-
Parquet Courts
Sunbathing Animal
By Larry Fitzmaurice; June 4, 2014
-
Brian Eno / Karl Hyde
High Life
By Mark Richardson; July 2, 2014
-
Ben Frost
A U R O R A
By Brandon Stosuy; May 30, 2014
-
A Sunny Day in Glasgow
Sea When Absent
By Lindsay Zoladz; June 24, 2014
-
How to Dress Well
"What Is This Heart?"
By Ian Cohen; June 23, 2014
-
-
News
Godflesh Announce New Album A World Lit Only By Fire, Share "New Dark Ages"
Industrial legends' first album in thirteen years
By Zoe Camp on August 5, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. EDT
-
Stream Godflesh's Decline and Fall EP
Their first release in 13 years
By Jeremy Gordon on June 3, 2014 at 3:59 p.m. EDT
-
Godflesh Return With New EP Decline and Fall, Share "Ringer"
By Jeremy Gordon on May 21, 2014 at 12:19 p.m. EDT
Reviews
Jesu
Everyday I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came
By Jason Heller
Justin Broadrick usually records Jesu EPs and singles as a one-man bedroom project and brings out a full ...
News
Stream New Releases From Jesu, Frankie Rose, and Touché Amoré Via Pitchfork Advance
By Pitchfork on September 17, 2013 at 1:45 p.m. EDT
Tracks
Jesu: "Homesick"Jesu: "Homesick"
By Grayson Haver Currin on August 19, 2013
-
News
Andy Samberg's The Lonely Island Are Making A Movie Produced by Judd Apatow
The as-yet untitled film will take place "in the world ...
By Molly Beauchemin on August 7, 2014 at 9:54 p.m. EDT
-
Postal Service Producer Jimmy Tamborello, aka Dntel, Announces New Album Human Voice
Out September 23 via Leaving Records/Stones Throw
By Molly Beauchemin on August 7, 2014 at 8:47 p.m. EDT
-
Nicolas Jaar's Other People Announce Work Compilation
The label's newest compilation features music from Nicolas Jaar ...
By Molly Beauchemin on August 7, 2014 at 7:55 p.m. EDT
-
She & Him Preview New Album With Teaser Video
First LP on their new label, Columbia
By Evan Minsker on August 7, 2014 at 5:11 p.m. EDT
Features
Starter
Starter: 20 Essential K-Pop Songs
Beyond the blinding videos, plastic sheen, and frank commerciality, South Korea's pop industry has also produced some of the most intelligent and accomplished mainstream music of the past few years.
News
Mapei Announces Debut Album Hey Hey, Tour With Lykke Li
Listen to new single "Change"
By Jeremy Gordon on August 7, 2014 at 4:15 p.m. EDT
-
Features
Starter
Starter: 20 Essential K-Pop Songs
Beyond the blinding videos, plastic sheen, and frank commerciality, South Korea's pop industry has also produced some of the most intelligent and accomplished mainstream music of the past few years.
-
Articles
Articles: Wax and Wane: The Tough Realities Behind Vinyl's Comeback
While pressing plants, labels, and stores are ecstatic about the still-booming vinyl resurgence, the format’s unlikely return is now leading to crippling delays and an increased reliance on questionable gimmickry.
-
Starter
Starter: 20 Essential K-Pop Songs
Beyond the blinding videos, plastic sheen, and frank commerciality, South Korea's pop industry has also produced some of the most intelligent and accomplished mainstream music of the past few years.
News
DJ Rashad Died of Drug Overdose, Autopsy Confirms
Heroin, cocaine and alprazolam found in system
By Jeremy Gordon on August 7, 2014 at 3:32 p.m. EDT
Features
Starter
Starter: 20 Essential K-Pop Songs
Beyond the blinding videos, plastic sheen, and frank commerciality, South Korea's pop industry has also produced some of the most intelligent and accomplished mainstream music of the past few years.
News
Lorde's Fugazi, Mars Volta, and PJ Harvey-Influenced High School Band Recordings Surface
Listen to And They Were Masked's album featuring Ella ...
By Jeremy Gordon on August 7, 2014 at 12:25 p.m. EDT