Godflesh

Godflesh is an industrial metal group from Birmingham, United Kingdom, formed in 1988 by Justin Broadrick and G. C. Green. The line-up has included Broadrick, Green, Paul Neville, Robert Hampson, Bryan “Brain” Mantia, Ted Parsons, Dermot Dalton and Paul Raven. The group is active from 1988 to the present and records on Godflesh Music.

Origins and development

Godflesh begins when Broadrick contacts Green about reforming Fall of Because, after that group ends in 1987. Broadrick moves to guitar and vocals, with programming also forming part of his role, and the band uses a drum machine in place of a live drummer. They adopt the name Godflesh and build a reputation in underground heavy music.

Style and influence

The band is widely regarded as one of the founders of industrial metal. Its sound combines industrial drum-machine rhythms with droning, discordant guitar and heavy bass, creating a slow, repetitive style often described as bleak or apocalyptic. Their influences include SPK, Whitehouse, Throbbing Gristle, Swans, Brian Eno and Black Sabbath. Broadrick’s vocals are often guttural, though they can also become more melodic.

Albums and line-up changes

Godflesh’s early albums Streetcleaner and Pure establish the band’s reputation and show how lo-fi production works in heavy music. In 1994 the band works with Columbia Records on Selfless and the Merciless EP, moving towards a more polished production. Songs of Love and Hate follows in 1996 and features Bryan Mantia on drums. Us and Them appears in 1999 and shifts further towards electronics and drum and bass, with the guitar taking a less central role.

In 2001 the band releases the retrospective double album In All Languages and the album Hymns, which features Ted Parsons on drums and returns the music to a slower, heavier approach while keeping elements of electronica. Green leaves in late 2001, with Paul Raven announced as his replacement. Godflesh then disbands in 2002. That year also sees a remastered version of the rare 1994 EP Messiah, expanded with new remixes.

Later activity

Broadrick and Parsons later form Jesu in 2003. Godflesh returns in 2010 for a small number of shows, including a performance at Hellfest in France, alongside a reissue of Streetcleaner with additional unreleased mixes, demos and live recordings.

Lyrical themes

Godflesh lyrics are terse, cryptic and bleak, with recurring themes of duality, opposition, paranoia and martyrdom. The song “Mothra” from Pure includes a line borrowed from Leonard Cohen’s “Avalanche”, reflecting Broadrick’s interest in Cohen’s Songs of Love and Hate.