Customer Reviews

One

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

 

 

Updated review in 2006

Now this is one poignant piece of soul-searing
work! I was never really a fan of godflesh (the
'main' musical affiliation of composer Justin
Broderick), but once upon a time I did have my
first hearing of this particular album and was
instantly mesmerized. Its not consistent in
the sense that one tends to expect from 'ambient'
in general - there are moments of abrasiveness,
but Justin perhaps never meant for this album to
be classified as such anyway; he doesn't
completely remove the industrial side of things.
And tet this album has rich and dark shades of
beauty that beg to be listened to again and again.
Its those gentler 'silver-seas of mercury' which
are done to such effect that maintains this CD as
one of the TOP gems of isolationist excursions.
I personally treasure this piece of work as Justin's
moment of triumph. Its a lucid, raw, haunting and
unique piece. Recently, Final 3 came out and I'm
dying to hear it!
Highly Recommended!

Final is a side project of Justin K Broadrick, who is mostly known for his two main bands Jesu and Godflesh. And while those two bands are guitar based, Final is all about ambient soundscapes. It is the kind of music that you close your eyes to, rest, and reflect inward about a variety of different things. This is self reflective music. Passages take you through tranquility at one moment and chaos the next. This is entirely mood based, so anyone who is looking for rock music is obviously in the wrong place. Final shows that Broadrick is a very diverse and prolific musician who is worth your time.

This was my first introduction to ambient music, or rather isolationist, drone or dark wave music, whatever you want to call it. I was working the night shift cleaning up a peepshow in California when a co-worker popped it in the boombox. It was the perfect background music to such an eerie, corrupt and lonely place. Unlike a lot of drone music, which I now collect, One is more structured and beautiful, though with an undeniable dissonance resonating in the background. Justin Broadrick has a talent for contrasting melodious, minimalist tones with atonal groans of feedback that no other artist can surpass. Like great painters and filmakers, his art evokes an atmosphere of shadows and light in which more than one image can be found. I went through a phase where I slowly began to seep myself in the darkness of the underworld and this was the only CD that came along. Final opened up the doors to my love for all dark ambient music, though I still have not found any quite so amazing. You can find this one cheap if you snoop around certain record stores long enough. I always pick a copy up if I see it to pass on to anyone that I believe could benefit from an introduction to this genre. All of Final's work is great but this is the best and it is the perfect primer for the world of drone.

comments: oliverlodge@hotmail.com

I have a bunch of old ambient DJ mixes that i don't know what the tracks were on them. just got this CD out of the crate and had a pass through it, and surprised to hear it holds many of my favorite moments. i expect if you listen to this in fifty years it will still be every bit as captivating. 2 is also quite good, gonna go see about three as soon as i hit the button...and kind of pitiful that solid stuff like this can be had for chump change while stupid pop records are holding their value, but whatever, good news for lucky buyers, run and go snag one...

I just got this together with Security and Web. It simply does not match them.

I'm a huge fan of Godflesh....But I'm sorry I paid $10 for this piece of CRAP! Because I knew Justin was a part of it. I feel robbed, even if you had a mountain of drugs I still don't know what you're supposed to get out of this! How bout a new FLESH album, STREETCLEANER style! As for this ONE it's off to the trade-in pile...