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Godflesh, "A World Lit Only By Fire"
Even as far as falling back into their historical release pattern of an album paired with an EP of unique, yet contemporaneous material, the resurrection of Godflesh has done everything possible to honor their legacy. A World Lit Only By Fire does not exactly see the band picking up where the last album, 2001's Hymns left off. Instead it goes back further into their history, to the era most Godflesh fans wish they had never left.
My first exposure to Godflesh came almost exactly twenty years ago:first was the summer release of Merciless, then soon after the October 1994 appearance of Selfless.I still remember it rather vividly:I was 15 and a sophomore in high school.A friend at the time went to the record store the night before and picked the album up for me, right off of the new release rack.I found both a bit surprising, as I was expecting something more akin to the likes of Skinny Puppy, but I grew to love them pretty fast.From there I quickly made my way through their discography, and have been there ever since.
Why do I bring this up, other than to attempt to inject my own experience into such a significant release two decades later?Because, and recent interviews with Justin Broadrick have confirmed this:Selfless was the last truly "Godflesh" record before an identity crisis set in.Twenty years to the month of Selfless’s release, we have what feels to be in earnest the follow up to that album.
Between then and now, Broadrick and G. C. Green released three full length albums, and while each were strong in their own right, they all strayed from the formula that made the band the force that they are.Songs of Love and Hate in 1996 had the duo expanding to a trio with live drummer Bryan Mantia and a clearly hip-hop influenced sound.Three years later, Us and Them presented a distinctly electronic approach, almost certainly bleed over from Broadrick's work as Techno Animal, and the inclusion of drum 'n' bass loops that clearly date the record.The final album, 2001's Hymns, had them scaling back the electronics, but once again including live drums, and was recorded outside of Broadrick's home studios, with the overall feel hurt by the band being on foreign ground.The best work ways always when the perfect balance was struck between man and machine, and on A World…, that equilibrium has been restored.
Just as on Decline & Fall, all the drums are programmed (and if the gear has been updated from the old 16 bit drum machine, it certainly has no detrimental effect) and it was fully produced and recorded by Broadrick at his own studio.Beyond the drums, the only overt electronic sound to be heard is some tasteful sampler hidden amongst grinding guitar and distended bass lines, such as within the opening of "Shut Me Down."Every descriptor of Godflesh from 1988 to 1994 can be used for A World…, and I think that is reassuring to most fans.Never, though, does it sound like the band simply emulating their old works, but instead it is fresh material filtered through their classic approach.
It is hard to describe exactly how the sound is different, though.Perhaps it is the effect of the pent up artistic aggression that Broadrick kept mostly hidden, from the inception of Jesu up until this revival.Maybe it is a mature energy that has come with wisdom and experience, via family life and fatherhood for Broadrick and a lengthy stint in a very different career for Green.No matter what, it is an asset and not at all detriment.At times I worried Decline & Fall was almost a bit too much of the duo trying to sound like they did in decades prior; here it just comes naturally.
The music then, unsurprisingly, embraces the duo's more metallic tendencies, so expect lots of dissonant guitar and growling vocals, which are surprisingly strong considering Broadrick is now a man of a certain age.Exceptions to this blueprint occur though, such as on "Life Giver Life Taker" and "Imperator", the latter of which has a raw redlined low-end thump to it, but Broadrick singing rather than shouting throughout.On "Towers of Emptiness", the band keeps the squalling grindcore riffs and bass in place, but turn the drum machine down a bit to nod back to their sludgier moments, with the ending expanding out into a simultaneously beautiful and frightening ambient dirge.
Just as a great Godflesh album should, the two drift away from the grind/throb/scream metal formula, with these variations standing out as high water marks on an album ripe with them.The aforementioned "Life Giver Life Taker" stands at the forefront because of Broadrick's singing and a higher register guitar tone amidst the dense rapid fire rhythm section.The song as a whole sits perfectly between the earliest Killing Joke material and the duo's own "Tiny Tears" era, albeit with significantly better production values."Curse Us All" is based upon a similarly upbeat tempo, but with uglier vocals and a bass led intro that just cements how integral Green's bass playing is to the band's signature sound.
The nearly eight minute finale "Forgive Our Fathers" reflects the penchant of Broadrick and Green to place a longer, more experimental composition at the end of the album.While it might not be as massive or sprawling as "Pure II" or "Go Spread Your Wings," it does feature an appropriately expansive guitar noise and deliberate, methodological.The vocals are infrequent and alternate between hate-filled growl and resigned sadness, and the guitar and bass reflect this perfectly.
The album name and some of the song titles clearly hint at this back to a primitive mindset, in this case the band’s earliest roots, but ironically the result is a sound that is more timeless than anything.Much of Streetcleaner or Pure could have been recorded yesterday, but the sound of Songs and Love and Hate is easily identified as being a mid/late 1990s production.Nothing about this album sounds specifically rooted in 2014 or any of the current production clichés.Other than the crisper production, A World... could have been recorded 1988 and it would have fit in with what they were doing then, and that is a major compliment.
Much like one of Godflesh's major influences Swans, Broadrick and Green have managed to reactivate a project that was criminally underrecognized when they were the most prolific, and yet returned with more dignity and respect than most can muster in their entire careers.Even though all signs seem to be pointing to yes, I am hoping this revival will have the same longevity as Michael Gira's has, and hopefully the same well deserved amount of recognition and accolades. A World Lit Only By Fire is less symbolic of a band's reinvention than it is a resurrection, and that is exactly what it should be.
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