Customer Reviews

Godflesh

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

One dimensional? Prehaps. Heavier than pretty much all else? Definitley. This, the first album by Godflesh, originally released on Swordfish records(i own the original on white vinyl) is one of the most single mindedly brutal releases out there...second only to Cop or Filth from the Swans. This 8 song debut envelops you in total audio devastation...envision a huge tank lumbering over a post-war battlefield; the sounds are slow and rumbling, almost too big to fit in your head. The vocals are mournful and uplifting in the same breath...sometimes being buried in a avalanche(ha) of guitar harmonics and tons of distortion...supposedly Justin only used two pedals and his marshall to acheive this sound. Do not bother with this if you want "indusrial" music. Go buy Ministry instead.....ya wimp.

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.

When I first heard the album, i thought it was a bit dull and boring, but when the second song started, i was blown away. it was so heavy! and so were the rest of the songs. highlights are spinebender, weak flesh (pure ... mosh) and wounds. wounds is a very long and repeative track wich is built on a single riff... very heavy indeed. get this album now ... ... you wont regret it

This album is an anouncement to the world of how mechanized, twisted, cruel, and downright evil society can be. The lyrics are the message and the music is the soundtrack. Godflesh easily surpasses any stonermetal band in the heaviness dept. The feedback and reverberating tones will intoxicate you. If you like this then make sure you pickup streetcleaner as well. The two of them should be one whole album together.

One of My favorite artists is GOD FLESH. I like this album, especiall for 1st, 3rd and 4th tracks. I wish they come to Japan and I like to see reunion gig.

This is Godflesh's very first s/t EP- Godflesh, a duo from the same town that brought you Black Sabbath- comes the band Godflesh. Made up of Guitarist/vocalist Justin Broadrick (formerly of Napalm Death, now in Jesu, as well as a host of other projects), bassist GC Green & drum machine as it's rhythmic axis with concise mechanical beats. The music is perhaps the most confrontational music put to tape ever. Broadrick's guitar squeals with atonal abnormality while GC Green's bass snarls- the drums are like death marches- unlike Napalm's 1000-beats-second blast beats- Godflesh crawls along- but the effects are the same in a different way than Napalm- and perhaps in some ways more terrifying way. The 2nd the disc opens with "Avalanche Master Song"- the band that comes to mind is early Swans circa 1984 minus the human drummer making a truly inhuman record with perhaps more negativity than than the former could possibly imagine. The original EP on Swordfish records is now out of print and Earache re-issued with 2 extra bonus tracks. While Streetcleaner still remains my favorite Godflesh to date- 1988's S/T is definetly is a precursor to the hellish soundtrack that is Streetcleaner. Recommended? Yes...while you are at it- try to find Fall Of Because- which is Justin, GC Green,& Paul Neville (who was on side 2 of Streetcleaner) playing the earlier versions of Streetcleaner from 1986! Worth checking out if you can find it!

: I Started Recording This Album In May 1987 With GODFLESH Recorded In January 1988.

Listen to some good music, this is a very bad album and i wouldn't buy it because it is PANTS