Godflesh
Us and Them
Earache
If you’ve been following Justin Broadrick’s career outside of Godflesh for the past few years, this record won’t be a surprise to you. However, if you are ignorant to J.K. Broadrick and G.C. Green’s work outside Godflesh (how could you not? This man works near as hard as Mick Harris) you’re in for a bit of a shock. Remember the Love and Hate in Dub album? Do you remember those massive breakbeats that sounded like cranes collapsing to the ground in some sort of bizarre mechanical ballet alongside tsunami sized basslines? Enter Us and Them . This album incorporates seriously damaged breaks into the ‘Flesh sound. In effect, the album is much less dirge-y than past ‘Flesh effects. But, take heed, this is no less heavy. The bass is still detuned beyond belief, and the guitar crunches, like, well, only Godflesh do it. The music is still tight, they haven’t gone fully into the looser dub worlds. “Witchhunt” and “Whose Truth is You Truth” sound downright hip-hop and more than a bit like another Broadrick project called Ice. Rammestein kids take heed: this is the true face of mechanized heaviness. After much mucking about by many so-called “industrial” musicians, Godflesh take the crown, crush it over the heads of the weak, and force the splinters down their throats.
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