JK Flesh - Nothing Is Free EP

Dense, thick, industrial beat loops is the order of the day, from the excellent JK Flesh project. Nothing Is Free seems to have dropped completely the guitar elements that so heavily caressed the beatwork on recordings such as Posthuman, in favour of bringing the beat entirely to the centre-stage. Nothing Is Free is not dissimilar to the work produced by Mick Harris in some of the more transitional and experimental eras of his excellent project Scorn.

This record is, ultimately, an experiment in distortion; which not only cloaks the proceedings in a sinister air of mystery, but allows the songs to breathe and expand; allowing much more interesting patterns to emerge from the aural fog. Expect throbbing, rhythmical progressions, sometimes accompanied by sparse synths, although most of the time the beats stand alone, demanding all of your attention. Brilliant stuff. 

Favourite track: "They Own You"

Godflesh - Hymns

Hymns was the final album by Godflesh before they originally broke up in 2002. It seems to apply the no-nonsense aesthetic from records such as Pure and Slavestate to the band's later, more "nu metal" kinda sound as found on Songs Of Love And Hate and even parts of Us & Them. What's also quite nice to note is that Ted Parsons, who drummed for Swans on a fair number of their seminal recordings, is the drummer here. This is also the second, and final, Godflesh studio album to feature a real live drummer, and their first after being released from Earache.

I find Hymns is often overlooked. There are many Godflesh gems here, such as the opening belter "Defeated", which slows to a groaning crawl that really drags out the agonizing pinched harmonics. "Voidhead" is a painful listen (in a good way), taking the repetition of industrial into the nu-metal world kicking and screaming. Then, towards the end you've got the hat-trick of the venomous "Vampires", the ridiculously heavy "Antihuman" and the soaring "Regal" soothing you just before the skull-bashing closer, "Jesu".

Being a Godflesh record, there was a 50/50 chance that the cover art was going to be fucking shite. It kinda looks like it was just pulled off a Google image search, and the booklet doesn't really elaborate much either. The End Records and Music On Vinyl also did everybody a solid and put this out on vinyl in 2013, leaving Us & Them as the only Godflesh album not available on wax. Surely drum and bass belongs on vinyl, right? If I ever win the lottery I'll finance the repress myself, if Digby lets me buy the rights. Anyway, I'm rambling. I'll fuck off now. Listen to this:

Jesu - Duchess | Veiled

This is a short, limited edition EP that Jesu released towards the arse end of 2012 on some rediculously limited quantity (I can't remember what number it was exactly but it sold out and I missed out on a copy, but to be honest, I probably wasn't paying enough attention and let it slide). It contains an unreleased Jesu track in the form of "Veiled" and a beautiful cover of The Stranglers' "Duchess", redesigned in the usual more-sombre-than-sombre Jesu approach.

I've linked the cover below because it's simply amazing, but the B side is just as good. I believe this came out not so long after the Ascension album, which was a bit of a miss in my opinion, so it was nice to find that Jesu hadn't completely lost it's way (future releases also completely cemented this fact). Doomy, gloomy, and as a YouTube commenter so rightfully pointed out - very Killing Joke-y. Excellent!

There is just something magical about the guitars on this thing, and I've poured my heart out about Jesu synths to you all before....

Napalm Death - Scum

How does one approach a review of a revered classic that spawned a genre? There are various debates about whether Scum was the first grindcore record, but there can be no argument that it was the first one that blew up on any particular scale. It was the album that cemented this weird sounding “grindcore” as a real thing. It also put Earache on the map, and seeded the entire worldwide scene that would follow. That’s a pretty big achievement if you ask me.

The most hilarious thing about Scum is Napalm Death’s ridiculously OTT revolving door line up, with the only thing Sides A and B both have in common is drummer Mick Harris. I think personally I prefer Side A as it has a much better sound, but in reality the real grindy stuff happens on Side B, with track after track after track of pummelling punk goodness. Obviously Side A has “The Kill”, “Scum”, “Siege Of Power” and the classic “You Suffer” but Side B just churns out a gauntlet of really similar sounding tracks – not that there isn’t any decent tunage here too (“Life?”, “Deceiver”, “Conservative Shithead”, “Divine Death” and “Dragnet” to name a few).

It’s because of the disjoined “is it a record / isn’t it a record?” argument that I think most people prefer the follow up, From Enslavement To Obliteration, which is a lot more solid and expands upon the sounds on Side B of Scum (with the same line up, no less) and also comes across as more of a full album rather than two separate studio sessions crammed together on one disc. Scum is, in all honesty, a bit shakey, and isn’t something that I listen to on a regular basis. But you gotta know your roots. I spend most of my time in grind and its freakish subgenres, so it’s only right that now and then the granddaddy of grindcore albums gets a spin.

Hey, I own it three times, so it can’t be that bad!

Godflesh - Decline & Fall

It was only with the release of Godflesh’s new full-length album A World Lit Only By Flame that I realised that I hadn’t even done a post for their comeback EP, Decline & Fall. I suppose it’s because it dropped when Lines In Wax was taking a bit of a break earlier in the year, and I did most of my listening for Decline & fall lying on beaches on exotic Thai islands (a strange way to aurally ingest the ‘Flesh, I’ll be honest).  If I had to sum this review up in a single line, I would tell you that Decline & Fall sounds so much like Godflesh that it hurts.

But it also sounds like nothing they have done before. All the parts are there, but the massive break that this band has taken has obviously allowed them to re-look at the Godflesh template with fresh eyes (and ears). There is only so much you can do with a sound as limiting as Godflesh’s punishing drum-machine metal attack, but I’d call this a successful comeback. It is a mirage of all the band’s previous styles (“Dogbite” sounds like it could have easily been on Us & Them) funnelled through the excess heaviness of an 8 string guitar.

I will also say that the music world has missed Ben Green’s bass. He’s an understated dude; the quiet back-end of Godflesh’s raw power, but shiiiiiit it’s good to hear that cheesegrater bass guitar again. It’s so simple but once you hear it again you can’t imagine heavy music without it. Expect a more in-depth look of the new album soon. Until then, all hail the new ‘Flesh!

Jesu - Everyday I Get Closer To The Light From Which I Came

Oh, how I have longed for a new Jesu release! I snoozed on the previous new material (the Duchess 7") and it sold out before I had even the slightest chance of even considering buying it, and now it is added to my neverending list of expensive shit to buy off Discogs. Trouble is, it's hard to find the money to keep up with all the new releases in the first place, doubly hard when there's a growing backlog of rare shit forever tempting you online! The woes of the record collector on a budget! Ha!

Everyday I Get Closer To The Light From Which I Came is a fantastic and rather "in the feels" type of record title. That, along with the abstract cover art, which to me conjures feelings of times past, brings on the realisation that our time on this planet is a very short one indeed...only getting shorter and shorter with every passing second. Fuck this! When the first track, "Homesick", kicks in with the usual Jesu-brand laid back electronica meets heavy riffage and melancholic atmosphere, the feeling only gets heavier. I heard that Justin wrote a song about missing his kid whilst on tour, and whilst I'm not entirely sure that's true, the title "Homesick" could well reveal that this is that track. Maybe.

I don't really see Everyday... as an EP, even though it is only 5 tracks in length, "The Great Leveller" - which starts with a nice piano and builds and builds - is over 17 minutes long, bringing the total run time up to something like 45 minutes. Which is good value for money, seeing as we are on the subject! Well impressed with this new Jesu stuff...it ranks a lot higher than the recent Ascension album which I think a lot of people didn't really like and I never bought since I want all the Jesu stuff on vinyl and the vinyl version doesn't seem to be materializing anytime soon. It's no Silver, but I can see Everyday... becoming a Jesu must-hear with time. Justin Broadrick, you're a genius! My fandom knows no bounds (although I'm not that familiar with Techno Animal haha!).

As far as I can tell this was self-released by Justin and his Avalanche Recordings label. It's pretty limited, and the grey copies are all sold out, so I got the black. I'd get this before it's gone!

Godflesh - Pure

It's that time again; another Godflesh post! How long will this one be? How far up Justin Broadrick's arse can I get this time? Ha ha! All jokes aside, my love for Godflesh is seemingly never-ending, although I do have lapses in listening time these days as there is so much other stuff out there I'm currently wrapping my lugholes around. At the moment I've been on a tremendous (and possibly worrying) hip hop / Bjork kick, so switching back to something as punishing as early Godflesh for the purpose of this review has really juxtaposed my listening ability. I guess it makes Pure seem twenty thousand times heavier. That can only be a good thing.

I'm not sure if Pure was the logical progression from something as sprawling and nauseatingly epic as Streetcleaner. I can totally see how the band got from A to B, so to speak, but Godflesh could have just as easily wandered off into the wailing, droning, clanking territory instead. Regardless of what could have happened, history dictates that Godflesh tightened and disciplined their sound for their second record. Pure is clinical and more machine-like than before. Both Streetcleaner and Godflesh are mechanical as fuck, but they also both presented a harrowing sense of depth and that weird sense of claustrophobia (or is that agoraphobia?). Pure just gets in, fucks you up, and leaves. It is an absolute riff machine.

I'm surprised this isn't more popular in "regular" metal circles; the riffs on display here are tight and mosh pit inducing. If this record didn't exist, neither would Fear Factory (or maybe they would have just stayed as a death metal band). The production is something that is very similar to the later, metal-to-the-core Pantera, and I don't suppose that it's a coincidence that Justin ended up remixing on the "Walk" single. Even Metallica's Kirk Hammet claimed that Godflesh were the heaviest band on the planet, before he stole a bunch of artwork ideas and was a general all-round dick. To top it all off, Metallica went on to release Load and Reload at this point, so karma is a bitch.

 

This LP can be rather difficult to find at a decent price. If you keep scoping and peeping that shit on various websites you will eventually be very lucky and can score a copy for a pretty good price. I got mine for the absolute steal of £10, because the seller insisted that the copy wasn't in good shape, despite sending me pictures that seemed to show otherwise. My copy is a bit crackly, but that just lends to it's charm. It looks just like any well-played record would look like after 20 years of storage. Out on Earache Records, and has also been re-issued on CD a gazillion times so you can probably get a copy for 5p or something.

Godflesh - Slateman

"Slateman" is one of my favourite 'Flesh songs, and is a prime example of what excellence can be achieved by simply using a drum machine right. This isn't particularly heavy or drawn out or even harrowing in any way, but it is the perfect example of Godflesh's sound. The drum sound is absolutely spot on, I don't really know what does it here for me but it's just so right. The bass is clanky and thick, holding down the rhythm perfectly, whilst the guitars wail over the top of everything, kicking into riffage every now and then, bolstering the heaviness and hitting home the beat.

Finally, with the vocals ranging from breezy cleans to distant shouts, there simply isn't a more perfect example of Godflesh. This was released by Sub Pop Records, as part of their "Singles Club" in the 90s. I think this is also available as a 12" which Earache put out. I want to get my grubby hands on that fucker too, even though it is pretty much the same record on a different sized disc. My Godflesh fan-dom knows no bounds! 

Jesu - Lifeline

This is the first Jesu record I heard and it is still probably one of my favourite releases by him. It also introduced me to Jarboe, which opened up a whole can of worms in my life in the form of Swans (another very long story for another day), who appears here as a special guest, not to mention as a precursor to the pair's collaboration album that would follow. Lifeline was released on the now sadly dying Hydra Head Records, who handled all CD and vinyl presses. As well as the black pressing you've got a golden one the same dirty colour as the EP artwork, and a swanky dirty-gold / black splatter edition, which I've got here.

 

The song "Lifeline" introduced me to the lush beats and melancholy droning that is Jesu. Gone are the brain-battering barrages that adorned mighty Godflesh tracks; here the sample work is a laid back affair of deep basses and hissing snares, that whilst coming to and fro in the mix alongside the sparkling, hopeful synth sound almost like audible waves of the ocean lapping at stony shores. How the sound sums up the artwork (a photo taken by the man himself) so perfectly! "You Wear Their Masks" continues in the same vein before Jarboe (not to mention Ted Parsons) come along and all of a sudden it's half of 1987-Era Swans up in this bitch. Early Swans basically invented Godflesh so it is rather ironic that all these musicians should work together so many years later and make music that is actually nothing like either early Swans or Godflesh.

"End Of The Road" is one of my favourite Jesu songs ever, with Justin's distant, distorted voice simply crooning "these scars don't heal / I don't mind". Once upon a time, a friend of mine told me that Broadrick sounds like Ville Valo from HIM on this recording and I just can't shake that now, every time I listen to it I'm reminded of that hatted Finnish cocksucker. Similar things have happened in other artist's work, like Godflesh's "Predominance" becoming "Dommelsch" after the Dutch lager, or even worse Electric Wizard's "Venus In Furs" becoming "My Penis, It Burns" (don't try it, I promise you will regret it), but I digress. Lifeline is a fantastic record and a great place to start with the Jesu discography, even if it is not the most logicial.

 

Godflesh - Slavestate Remixes

I initially thought this just a completists item, and being a total crazy fan I simply had to get a copy on my quest to own all Godflesh stuff. The "Radioslave" version carries the original off on a whole new tangent, keeping the opening 90s dance vibe as its leading beat rather than heading into the heavyness the original does. The sample of the lyric "Jesus!" blares continually. "Total State" batters "Slavestate" into an unrecognisable mess, and if the world has fallen apart, or the song had demonically re-arranged itself within the machine. Almost as if the computer has taken over the song. Nasty. "Perfect Skin Dub" on the other hand, is rather relaxing for a smoldering fuck of a drawn out remix. All hope that remained in the original has been squashed and crushed to fucking nothing.

This original Earache package didn't last very long, but suprisingly it isn't very expensive. I guess people have to want something for it to be collectable. Horrible Godflesh self-remixes obviously weren't the order of the day in 1991. But if horrible re-workings of usually clinically precise songs are your bag, get some of this.

Godflesh - Slavestate

Godflesh is one of my favourite bands. Not of all time, because I have not known them "all time". But, when I finally got my head out my arse and searched for some music that wasn't grindcore, German techno-porngrind or Sunn O))), I never, ever looked back. Godflesh's effect on my outlook of music is just as important as Napalm Death's original input into my perception of music (how ironic it is that both bands are / were so closely related). I was originally going to explain how Godflesh made me learn how horrible noise can be fantastic to listen to, but I guess some areas of grindcore cover that already. And as for learning that music doesn't have to be 1000mph to be heavy, I can thank Sunn O))), or more traditionally, Sabbath, Cathedral et al. No, what Godflesh did is teach me more about an underlying mood in music. I have always felt moods in music, don't get me wrong, it is why I feel so close to music in the first place, but to use sounds in such a way that create such a sense of claustrophobia and helplessness is truley an artform.

Slavestate starts off with the title track; pounding 90s dance beats (that Godflesh seem to sneak into a lot of tracks around this era) quickly become dissonant guitars and pummelling drum machines. Rather pacey for a Godflesh track, Broadrick bellows "Fear Factory" over the top of this track as if there was no tomorrow (or any death metal band to instantly start mimmicking him ;D). "Perfect Skin" comes on next, mingling brain-bashing drum machines with a glimmering, hopeful synth that nicely counteracts the crushing heavyness of Benny's bass and Justin's guitars. It continues to ache away behind the main barrage. If one may divulge into some top notch art-faggery; Godflesh is the oil rig, the synth is the beautiful ocean and sunset behind it. Wow that was deep. Ha ha.

On the flipside "Someone Somewhere Scorned" bashes drums into your face like it wants you dead (again first coming on like something you'd hear on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack) before closer "Meltdown" is riff-bendingly good 'Flesh of old. Chuggachugga Snare! Snare! *Head explodes*. Unlike many Godflesh EPs that would follow Slavestate, I would suggest this to somebody who was unfamiliar with the works of Godflesh. It represents their sound enough but isn't as interverted and self-hating as later records. Godflesh become more "poppy" from Selfless onwards (disregarding final album Hymns), so Slavestate is a last shining example of their crushing original sound.

A couple of different pressings of this exist, all on Earache of course, but the original contains only the main four songs. The remixes were originally released as a separate 12" (which I also have here) but on later pressings of Slatestate the speed was cut down to 33rpm and they were bundled onto side B. This is fairly cheap, and the remixes even cheaper, so I recommend you pick it up :D

Godflesh - Godflesh

It is often easy whilst analyzing Godflesh's contribution and effect upon heavy music to focus wholly on the groundbreaking Streetcleaner record and to overlook this crooked, snarling little gem of industrial terror. More claustrophobic than Streetcleaner's sprawling inhuman soundscape, Godflesh pummels the listener with a mechanized drum machine attack and plodding, menacing bass.

 

What I have here is the original, untouched Swordfish Records pressing of this EP. Some think that the clear Swordfish pressing is rarer, but it is actually a repress. All original copies of Godflesh were made on black vinyl. Subsequent Earache re-issues of this can suck my fucking cock. And whilst the original Swordfish pressing isn't the most pricey and saught after record in existence, it remains one of my personal favourites. It is the mechanical hell of Godflesh's early existence and sound summed up in 6 tracks. It's concise and to the point, and then destroys the listener - mind, body and soul - with it's never-ending outro; "Ice Nerveshatter".

I could sit here all day thinking up new ways to tell you how good Godflesh are, and how fucking crushing this record is, but I think I've written enough so I'll just let the music do the talking. Track 3, "Godhead", is one of my all time Godflesh favs, so please do it justice and play it loud as fuck, and prepare to be pressed into oblivion!