Customer Reviews

Jesu

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
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Until today I had only been vaguely familiar with the work of Napalm Death and Godflesh. That's to say I never took the time to research their histories or biographies. The founding member of both of those bands is Justin Broadrick. He has since moved on from each of them. But despite the fact that he's been working in music for a very long time, his devoted fans still can't seem to get enough of his music. The overwhelming response to his latest project, Jesu, is no exception and will undoubtedly uncover a lot more about him than most of us are aware.

In attempting to gather some information about the history of Broadrick, it became clear that message boards were lighting up and fans were praising his return. Admittedly, I am not one that belongs to that list of followers, nor am I wholly versed in the (apparently) vast amount of influence he's had on metal music, but I can certainly appreciate the dedication of his followers and the feelings I get from listening to this new material.

If you are familiar with the recent work of label mates, Pelican, you'll be in tune with what's going on here. Jesu's music is intense in that it utilizes effects and atmosphere to carry the weight of the album. To go a step further would be to call it a doom metal album met with the heady aesthetic of My Bloody Valentine. But contrary to those comparisons, Jesu meets us with an emotionally charged affection that is still rarely heard in guitar-heavy albums.

One doesn't simply listen to Jesu; rather, it is absorbed as it washes over you in layers of temperate colors. These songs are lengthy with pleasant repetition, which allows them time to breathe and become trance-like. The most perfect example of this comes near the end, with "Sun Day." This is a song that is decidedly one of the heaviest tracks of the bunch, yet I'm still drawn to the emotive qualities that keep it from crossing over to the aggressive side of metal. And it's this difference that makes Jesu such a welcomed change from the norm.

By the end, the unexpected becomes the expected. There are no surprises hidden underneath the layers of sound, just infectious shoegazer doom that lends itself well to many repeated listens. While I may have heard a Godflesh album or two, this material is unquestionably more up my alley. However, because I've admitted that I'm not one of those fans who have followed Broadrick's career with a microscope, I may just have to find some time to delve into a few of his side-projects to see if he truly is the metal icon his fans make him out to be.

A strange creature, this Jesu. Combining the cavernous bottom end and plodding tempos of doom metal with the heady guitar noise of late '80's-early '90's shoegaze rock, this new group from Godflesh founder Justin Broadrick (along with former collaborator Ted Parsons) has released what is surely among the most interesting albums of 2005. There are tons of bands out there now doing the whole "long, epic, guitar-driven songs with few if any vocals" thing right now-Isis, Pelican, Explosions in the Sky, etc. etc.-but Jesu still manage to incorporate enough disparate elements to stand out from the crowd. Those who have listened to Godflesh, especially their masterpiece Pure, will know that Justin is given to releasing heavy music that is experimental but can still kick your head in, and this album is no exception. Its emotive, grandiose songs rely heavily on drone, repetition, and disarmingly pretty melodies, allowing the music to achieve a hypnotic effect that, as others have noted, occasionally brings to mind My Bloody Valentine. Not to mention, Justin's vocals here are almost all sung (in sharp contrast to much of his previous work), and while his singing isn't particularly polished it does blend in nicely with the band's densely layered sound. Even when the heavy, grinding guitars make one of their frequent appearances, the effect is more ambient than percussive, much like the sound Isis has achieved on their recent albums. However, Jesu even go a step further than that band by bringing in liberal doses of keyboards to further the album's dense, headrush-inducing approach. Fans of Broadrick's more aggressive work needn't worry, though, as the keyboards are generally integrated extremely well into the overall sound, rather than being used in the ostentatious fashion that far too many progressive metal bands have used. Besides, this is still in many ways a metal album, as the songs are all firmly anchored by the thunderous chug of Justin's bass and Ted's drumming. There's even a good old-fashioned Godflesh-style headbanger here in the form of Man/Woman, a delightfully malevolent little number that destroys all in its path with the brutal efficiency of a carpet-bombing raid, led by Justin's signature growl and a fearsome groove. The Justin of 1991 would certainly be proud of this one. Anyway, while Jesu might not be Godflesh reincarnated, it is certainly an interesting new permutation of that band's musical mission, and one likely to appeal to all discerning heavy-music fans.

I have been a fan of Justin Broadrick ever since on a whim, I snagged Godflesh's Hymns one day at Best Buy. What I heard there was intriguing, and really caught my attention enough to warrant gaining more of the band's previous output. I was absolutely amazed with the things that Godflesh had done, creating a very doomy, heavy, experimental sound where the reward comes from being able to tune everything else out and focus on nothing but the music, something bands like the Swans or Neurosis also require.

I was to see Godflesh live the day of my high school graduation in May 2001, but Broadrick ended up cancelling the tour and disbanding due to a nervous breakdown. Not only did I miss out on the chance to see them live, but Godflesh was extinct. I spent the next couple of years collecting various side projects and pre-Godflesh recordings, and while good, they didn't grab me as much as Godflesh had.

So naturally, I was excited to the point of being beside myself when I heard that Broadrick was back with a new band. I stumbled upon this in an issue of Terrorizer, which detailed the Heartache EP (which I ordered from Amazon UK), consisting of two tracks, each about twenty minutes in length. It proved hard to find for a long time, and I was unable to find it until after this self-titled album had hit the shelves domestically.

On "Jesu," things familiar to a lot of longtime Broadrick fans are intact: the heavy, plodding bass; extended song tempos; experimentation; and the occasional gruff vocal. However, there was something new in the mix: Warmth. Instead of sounding cold and machine like, the emotive singing heard on tracks like "The Infernal" and "Anthem" from Godflesh's later years are more dominant, albeit a slightly different variation, sounding more distorted and pained. Another surprise was the lack of a lot of Broadrick's droning riffage; his guitars are still there, but they don't take center stage with chugging menace. "Heartache" had a little bit more of that sound at times, but overall, mellow is JB's route now. Instead, the guitar present is in subtle perks and nudges, the sort of melodic play you'd hear in bands like Mogwai, Sigur Ros, and My Bloody Valentine. Overall, the sound brings to mind a combination of Godflesh and Broadrick's ambient side project, Final.

All in all, this is a well packaged release, one that is deserving of its accolades and dedicated fan base. "Jesu" is the sort of album where you hear something new the more you play it, and it conjures up more emotions and empathy within than any album I have played before. This is good music for nighttime driving trips, or for those nights where you feel like laying in the dark in deep thought. An amazing, essential album, one that will stand the test of time and never gather dust. Oh, and by the way, I personally think this outdoes a lot of his work with Godflesh, which is quite a feat.

Anyone that loves Broadrick's genius with music here should check out the following: Ice's "Bad Blood" (a trip-hop side project); Techno Animal (another trip hop/dance-ish project); Final's "1," "2," and "Solaris" (ambient soundscapes); Godflesh (industrial/experimental/doom--anything is good); Curse of the Golden Vampire (on Ipecac Records, a noise project with heavy guitars and extremely fast, almost gabba-like drum machines (think Berzerker, but not as brutal)). Justin also worked with Napalm Death (grindcore), which has never really been my bag of tea, and Head of David, which I have not yet heard. Working on it, though! Anything above comes highly reccomended if you are intrigued by what you hear on this album.

im not a writer or a music critic , just a listener . i love music . i love godflesh , everything they put out . they only improved as time went by . it tapped right into my purest quietest thoughts and spoke a lot of things i never thought to say . just as genuine and profound as anything radiohead , pink floyd , nin , or the cure put out . so i was heartbroken when i learned they had called it quits. now this jesu thing comes out. i dove in , and am not disappointed . this album is alive . it bleeds any negativity right out of you , gives voice to that pain , but leaves you feeling relieved and cleaned , the way songs like empyreal , merciless , frail and the internal do, though this is more organic , not as industrial as godflesh was , the drums are looser , and the bass is so heavy you feel buried in the sound of it. justins vocals come through this distorted black cloak of doubt like a shining, blinding light. i cant say enough about this album , though it will probably sail right over a lot of heads . way ahead of its time , as always...

A couple of years ago I heard the devastating news that Godflesh was no longer. I'd been a huge fan since the late 80s when "Streetcleaner" crushed all in its path and had particularly enjoyed the "Selfless" album during the mid 90s. I'll be the first to admit that the last couple of Godflesh albums were mediocre and I don't think the hip hop thing ever worked all that well within the massive beats and huge discordant bass that were the cornerstone of the band throughout their (his) industrious career. But I'd been confident that Justin could turn things around and release more brilliant, emotionally draining, challenging music under the Godflesh moniker. But I couldn't be happier with the outcome of the decision to move on to something else.

Not only has Justin formed a new entity called Jesu, but he's using it to release a form of music that combines most of the best elements of Godflesh, leaving the more experimental, hip hop and commercial aspects to the past. Jesu is heavy without being brutal, its desolate landscapes encapsulating the listener without creating any level of discomfort. It's filled with distortion, depressive vocals and crushing bass lines, yet is constantly beautiful to behold. Justin's clean vocals have always been touching when combined with such a discordant backdrop, and Jesu is a fine vessel for his style. This album has very obviously been put together with great care and displays Justin's amazing talent for writing captivating and unique material.

The highlight track for me is "Tired of Me" with its awesome plodding melody dragging me through the darkness, smiling the whole way (us doomsters sure are a weird bunch!) But all the tracks are great, coherent and varied enough to keep me interested throughout and coming back for more.

Fans of Godflesh can simply do no wrong with purchasing this album and the uninitiated should definitely check this out anyway. No other band sounds like this so I can't really draw comparisons to anyone else, but if you like things crushing yet intelligent, created by a genius that has a talent for transcending musical boundaries and rules, then this industrial / doom / drone / atmospheric metal album should be heard as soon as possible. One for the end of year lists, that's for sure.

I'm a Godflesh fan from way back; I saw them live when they came to Florida in 1989 with The Exploited. I have bought and enjoyed every Godflesh album since Streetcleaner, and specifically enjoyed Godflesh for one main reason: the drone. I found myself less interested in their pounding, soulcrushing metal riffages, and more into their droning ambient noise experiments. Not all of Godfleshs' songs were droney, but the ones that were took you into another world. It's that drone quality that absolutely saturates this Jesu album.

After listening to the album a couple of times, the drone is absolutely magical. I tried to come up with a catchy description of the sonic relations that this album conjures up: Godflesh meets ( )-era Sigur Ros, Godflesh with hope, Godflesh meets Loveless-era My Bloody Valentine, Melodic Droning Noise, Godflesh meets Absence of Time-era Blind Light. Nothing quite nails it, though; I can't exactly put my finger on the magic this album inspires. I can only say that it is an amazing experience. I just load this album up at night in Winamp, put it on loop, and let the waves of sound drone me to sleep.

So, if you're a Godflesh fan, this is a ridiculously good album. If you're a fan of ambient noise, this will blow you away. If you love creepy atmospheric drone metal, this album is bliss. Justin has done magnificent work here. Buy this record and support him so that he can continue to reward us with sonic experiences such as this one.

Everyone dies, you know. Bands die too. But fortunately for Justin Broadrick, death is only temporary, and he has arisen, pheonix-like, with his new musical diety Jesu.

Make no mistake about it, the final chapter of one JK Flesh has yet to be written. After his former band crashed and burned on the eve of a rare US tour, the ex-Godflesh leader went into seclusion, with only one LP (Curse of the Golden Vampire's Mass Destruction) to remind fans he was still in the land of the living (though not necessarily in the land of metal). We all knew it couldn't possibly be the end of the man whose music had pulverized and hypnotized us since the 1980's, and we were right; Jesu appeared around 2003, released a teaser EP via Dry Run Records, and finally this, their (or his) Hydra Head debut (on a side note, Aaron Turner from Isis did the albums excellent design). As with Godflesh, Jesu is very much a "selfish" project, with Broadrick playing man-behind-the-curtain and some hired guns (Dermot Dalton (bass), Ted Parsons (drums), and Paul Neville (guitar) helping out in the studio. While stylistically similar to Godflesh (as is only expected), Jesu differs in some key respects.

On first listen, adjectives like "sweeping", "obtuse", and "really slow" came to mind. All words applicable to Godflesh at one point or another. It comes from the crushing and repetetive nature of the music, a sound consiously meant to make you feel like a flea on life's back. But while Godflesh promised nothing but rainy days, with Jesu there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. That seems to be the biggest diference between the two "bands", the disposition. Jesu contains things that Godflesh only hinted at: Chiming guitars, long airy dronefests, vocal harmonies. Maybe Broadrick got tired of being all grim and evil all these years? Or maybe he's just an old fart now? Well, whatever, it's arguably a change for the better. For music of this magnitude to be successful it needs harmony, balance, and control; and as much as I loved Godflesh, they sometimes missed the boat on that one. The prickly, fragile nature of Jesu's quieter moments, interwoven with some the-world-is-ending sonic rumblings, brings to mind such inevitable comparisons as Neurosis.

It's hard to pick a favorite song. Everything tends to blur together into one huge dronefest. Indeed, it seems a cop-out to say that everything's "pretty good". Opener "Your Path To Divinity" might as well be called "REPENT", for all the thick guitars, harsh sonic strangulation, and thinly veiled malice on display. It sets the tone for the rest of the album, galvanizing (but noisy) hooks and distinctive melodies that only occasionally submerge themselves above the frothy undertow of crushing riffs. As in Broadrick's former band Godflesh, the lyrics are short and unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Broadrick belts and howls out verses that are usually (but not always) incoherent, drenched in reverb, forcing the listener to find their own meaning. That British voice is distinctive, the words; not so much. The music is the message, and it carrys the weight of Jesu's messsage nicely.

So. A kinder, more gentler Godflesh? Maybe. Broadrick has always been about channeling complex emotions of greif, rage, and despair, but they were mostly subordinate to monolithic guitars and militant basslines. Here he lets his sentimental side have free reign. What was always amazing to me was how Broadrick could twist the most rote stuff - errant guitar picking, an avalanche of distorted feedback - into something of earth-shattering importance. Jesu continues that tradition in fine fashion, becoming quite a daunting listen if you're interested in picking up everything. Not quite the steamroller that was Godflesh, but more of a heavily sedated ride through the peaks and valleys of your own memory, something to anchor you when all else seems lost. Powerful stuff.

Godflesh is dead. Long live Jesu.

Justin Broadrick, the founder of Jesu, carried the burden of history and expectation with him when he announced this project. As a founding member of Godflesh, an influential and important band in the heavy metal and industrial music genres, he had a lot of people paying attention when he disbanded that outfit in favor of a new direction. Jesu, he said, would not be metal. It would be something entirely different from what he had done before.
It certainly is. Jesu is not just unique to Broadrick's catalog; it's unique to music in general. More importantly this self-titled release, the first full-length album under the Jesu name, is a remarkable success. Broadrick crafts the music from strange and effects-laden guitar, bass and programmed sounds, layered on top of one another. It's a "big" sound, for lack of a better word: the impression is given of great cosmic forces slowly colliding with one another, all set in motion with carefully organized arrangement.
In a sense, it is the opposite of Godflesh. Whereas Godflesh pulsed with tight, hammering intensity and a concentrated malevolence or fear, Jesu generally plods through its paces in expansive soundscapes. The result easily holds up to quality standards. The album opener, "Your Path To Divinity," will challenge the person new to Jesu's sound with its almost-discordant hanging notes, droning slow pace, and heavy, distorted bass. Approached with an open mind, its effect becomes hypnotic. The three tracks that follow this are brilliant album highs. The shattering, beautiful blast of "Friends Are Evil" is incredibly sad and intense. "Tired of Me" layers mournful vocal harmonies over slow, crashing percussion and guitar effects. "We All Faulter" takes a steady, understated beat, but throws up huge walls of guitar sound. There are problems, of course. The 'evil' vocal effect Broadrick uses in "Guardian Angel" was never good and in any case fell out of fashion at least fifteen years ago. The vocals are generally substandard in delivering powerful and sustained notes. It's not a huge flaw, as the human voice plays a small role in what Broadrick is doing here, but it's bad enough that the vocal improvements over the next few Jesu releases were a welcome. In addition, beyond the first four tracks the album seems to almost peter out, as if the best ideas and arrangements were already accounted for.
But the positives overwhelmingly outweigh the negatives. The guitars chime, caterwaul and echo in gorgeous layers, the bass crawls and shudders, and the precise drumming of Ted Parsons contrasts in an intriguing way with a blurred percussion production.
The music has a beauty that is almost painful to hear: a sort of grand and angelic character in its sound as it explores moods of regret, resignation, and emotional exhaustion. Because of this character the music never descends into cheesy self-pity or melodrama like so much of what's on the radio today. Rather, it transcends all of these human feelings. It gives an unflinching look at their effect on us but also reflects the beauty in our own sadness. In that way it reflects life, which is what all great art seeks to do.

First of all, Justin K Broadrick is without a doubt a musical genius. Not only was Godflesh a truly amazing abstract Industrial metal band, but Jesu is one of the most original pieces of work I have ever heard in my entire life. This music is simply gorgeous. I will never forget the time I was driving around in the rain while this record was blasting on the stereo. It seemed like the perfect kind of atmosphere to listen to this record in -- a gloomy, rainy day. This album takes you through so many emotional highs and lows. A lot of people tend to coin the word "shoegazer metal" in order to describe this music, but I don't know if that sticks accordingly. There is definitely a bit of a Slowdive influence here, but this music can also be very spacey and ambient at times, too. That element reminds me more of Broadrick's ambient project Final. Honestly, the perfect way to describe this album is that it is a more mature and mellowed out version of Godflesh with a little shoegazer and mope rock influence thrown into the mix. You see, I would have to say that Godflesh was a very nihilistic and brutal band, although towards the end of their career there were certainly more rays of "light" shining through the oppressive atmosphere of the band's sound. Those rays of light became Jesu. Not to say that this record is uplifting or anything, but it is certainly more soaring and emotionally evocative than Godflesh. And while Godflesh tried to capture an aural apocalyptic nightmare, Jesu captures a surreal dream world. Both bands are excellent and worth checking out.

I was not expecting to like this album, much less fall in love with it. This album was described to me as a "wall of sound, as heavy as you can imagine, but harmonic".

That's a pretty good description, but describing this CD is tricky because there's nothing out there close enough to compare it to. I could see comparisons to Neurosis or Isis (especially track 7, "man/woman"), but not direct ones.

The artwork that comes with the CD is fantastic as well, designed by Aaron Turner of Isis.

If you like stuff on Hydra Head records, if you like heavy music, but also beautiful music you can chill out to, I give this CD my highest possible recommendation.