Godflesh, the British duo who are among the pioneers of industrial metal, were meant to tour the States last fall—due to visa issues, they were delayed until this past spring, allowing fans more time to prepare for the impending onslaught. G.C. Green's bass retained its mechanical terror while spelunking to deeper chasms, and Justin Broadrick took his snarling anger to new heights, as if to make up for a decade of poppier sounds he made with Jesu. On the chorus of "Like Rats", Broadrick simply purged "YOU BREED! LIKE RATS!" with worldly discontent, backed with visuals of the flaming crucifixes from Godflesh's classic 1989 album Streetcleaner. It felt more relevant than ever before. We're still in loathsome patterns of unfulfilled contentment and equally dispassionate breeding in 2014.

The tour focused on the group's late-1980s and early-90s material—their apex. A World Lit Only by Fire, Godflesh's upcoming full-length followup to 2001's Hymns and their recent Decline and Fall EP, is in the vein of that era. "Imperator" has it all—Broadrick's fusion of Tony Iommi's heft and early Swans' grating repetition, fortified by Green's bass. It does not have the overt danciness of Slavestate or Pure, but their mastery of lockstep rhythms shows those influences never quite left. Broadrick sticks to clean vocals, but gone is the sensitivity of Jesu, replaced by Godflesh's eternal sense of longing. "Imperator" is a return to form on the surface, but seen through the context of the metal old guard's technophobia, it's surprisingly progressive.