[Music Is My Boyfriend] Adventures In Oxfam #2. Godflesh - Messiah
Hello folks and welcome to the second installment of my new series.
Today I will be reviewing Messiah by Godflesh, which narrowly beat The
Cure's self-titled album in my browsing this week. Sorry this took so
long - life/ATP got in the way, and then I lost the CD for a couple of
days. Grr. Anyway...
(I apologise unreservedly for this image).
Backstory
You may remember that I was thinking of getting this album last time,
and I've eventually given in, mainly due to curiousity as much as
anything else. Godflesh is the project of Justin K. Broadrick, later of
Jesu, and I've heard both name being bandied around as being fairly
important metal bands. I also chose it because I thought this exercise
would be a good opportunity to check out music I don't listen to that
often. I have really very little idea what to suggest, wiki
says "industrial metal". Well, we'll see.
Artwork
Ok, a bit minimal. Contains some fairly spooky photos (I have no idea
what's going on in the one inside). Bare amount of information inside.
5/10.
(Also it turns out that's not the front cover I'm posing with up there.
Oh well)
1. Messiah
Starts with a fairly big, yet melodic riff. Nice bass tone. Vocals
quite understated, sort of spoken-word and quite low in the mix, which
makes a welcome change from a lot of metal. This is a lot more
listenable than I was expecting. I think there's a subtle hint of
electronics, or at least some kind of tremelo-y noise in the
background, which adds to the feel of the track quite nicely. I can
definitely hear the common threads between this and Jesu, especially
the Silver EP stuff.
2. Wilderness of Mirrors
Opens with some weird electronics and what sound like programmed drums
(I checked the insert, and apparently the drums are indeed programmed,
although they're done very well). Another big, squelchy bass sound and
that kind of phasey, echoey guitar part that they love in industrial
stuff. Again there's not a huge amount of variation as it goes on, but
I suppose that's sort of the point. I do like the flangey electronics a
lot. Another good track.
3. Sungod
Mostly drums and bass this one, with Broadrick's dispassionate (even
for this album) vocals over the top. The guitar part is quite atonal
and screechy, but it works quite well. There's not too much more to
say, the tracks are fairly similar in their approach, but they all work
quite well.
4. Scapegoat
Almost tribal sounding drums at the beginning (although they go a bit
slowed-down drum n' bass later). I'm starting to appreciate how the
repeition seen in these songs is part of the hypnotic charm. The vocals
are a bit distorted on this one, which is a nice change and the guitar
part is more of a traditionally metal one. This is probably the most
aggressive track so far (and over 2 minutes shorter than everything
else, I notice). Ooh there's even sort of metal shouting. \m/ I'm fond
of this one.
5. Messiah Dub
I had wondered what all these "Dub" tracks were at the end. Then I
found out this was originally supposed to be an EP released solely to
the Godflesh fan club, but it got a rerelease some years later, with
these four remixes tacked on to the end. Not sure what to expect.
I see why they call it "dub" now. There's a lot more bass, and it feels
a bit slower and more groove-orientated. The bass isn't really
distorted anymore either, it sounds like Jah Wobble playing it now. The
vocals are nice and echoey too. Pretty good.
6. Wilderness of Mirrors Dub
A similar kind of thing going on here. They've not really played around
with the structure of the songs very much so far, so I'm not sure how
much extra value they add but they're interesting curiosities at least.
This one is definitely a bit more swirly, atmospheric and shoegaze-y,
so again I can see the link with Jesu.
7. Sungod Dub
I'm realising trying to judge these dub versions against the originals
is somewhat tricky, given the fact that I've only listened to each one
time. I suppose this is a limitation of the live reviewing format, but
I don't suppose this problem will occur too much. It's not sounding too
repetitive as I'm listening so I guess that's a plus for the remixes! I
notice some additional piano and spacey background noise on this one,
which I heartily approve of.
8. Scapegoat Dub
I'm expecting something different her, however, since the remix is
about 5 minutes longer than the original track. Right away the drums
sound even more drum n' bass/jungle style. Man these remixes make
Godflesh sound quite a lot like Killing Joke. I like how they make up
the extra time on these - it sort of deconstructs the original and
throws it a lot of buzzy electronics and ambient noise while the drums
pound on.
Overall, I really liked that. It was an interesting, and surprisingly
listenable introduction into a genre I've been meaning to investigate
for a while. I've been having a bit of a metal binge this week as well,
which helps.
Hope you enjoyed this.
Horatio x
Today I will be reviewing Messiah by Godflesh, which narrowly beat The
Cure's self-titled album in my browsing this week. Sorry this took so
long - life/ATP got in the way, and then I lost the CD for a couple of
days. Grr. Anyway...
(I apologise unreservedly for this image).
Backstory
You may remember that I was thinking of getting this album last time,
and I've eventually given in, mainly due to curiousity as much as
anything else. Godflesh is the project of Justin K. Broadrick, later of
Jesu, and I've heard both name being bandied around as being fairly
important metal bands. I also chose it because I thought this exercise
would be a good opportunity to check out music I don't listen to that
often. I have really very little idea what to suggest, wiki
says "industrial metal". Well, we'll see.
Artwork
Ok, a bit minimal. Contains some fairly spooky photos (I have no idea
what's going on in the one inside). Bare amount of information inside.
5/10.
(Also it turns out that's not the front cover I'm posing with up there.
Oh well)
1. Messiah
Starts with a fairly big, yet melodic riff. Nice bass tone. Vocals
quite understated, sort of spoken-word and quite low in the mix, which
makes a welcome change from a lot of metal. This is a lot more
listenable than I was expecting. I think there's a subtle hint of
electronics, or at least some kind of tremelo-y noise in the
background, which adds to the feel of the track quite nicely. I can
definitely hear the common threads between this and Jesu, especially
the Silver EP stuff.
2. Wilderness of Mirrors
Opens with some weird electronics and what sound like programmed drums
(I checked the insert, and apparently the drums are indeed programmed,
although they're done very well). Another big, squelchy bass sound and
that kind of phasey, echoey guitar part that they love in industrial
stuff. Again there's not a huge amount of variation as it goes on, but
I suppose that's sort of the point. I do like the flangey electronics a
lot. Another good track.
3. Sungod
Mostly drums and bass this one, with Broadrick's dispassionate (even
for this album) vocals over the top. The guitar part is quite atonal
and screechy, but it works quite well. There's not too much more to
say, the tracks are fairly similar in their approach, but they all work
quite well.
4. Scapegoat
Almost tribal sounding drums at the beginning (although they go a bit
slowed-down drum n' bass later). I'm starting to appreciate how the
repeition seen in these songs is part of the hypnotic charm. The vocals
are a bit distorted on this one, which is a nice change and the guitar
part is more of a traditionally metal one. This is probably the most
aggressive track so far (and over 2 minutes shorter than everything
else, I notice). Ooh there's even sort of metal shouting. \m/ I'm fond
of this one.
5. Messiah Dub
I had wondered what all these "Dub" tracks were at the end. Then I
found out this was originally supposed to be an EP released solely to
the Godflesh fan club, but it got a rerelease some years later, with
these four remixes tacked on to the end. Not sure what to expect.
I see why they call it "dub" now. There's a lot more bass, and it feels
a bit slower and more groove-orientated. The bass isn't really
distorted anymore either, it sounds like Jah Wobble playing it now. The
vocals are nice and echoey too. Pretty good.
6. Wilderness of Mirrors Dub
A similar kind of thing going on here. They've not really played around
with the structure of the songs very much so far, so I'm not sure how
much extra value they add but they're interesting curiosities at least.
This one is definitely a bit more swirly, atmospheric and shoegaze-y,
so again I can see the link with Jesu.
7. Sungod Dub
I'm realising trying to judge these dub versions against the originals
is somewhat tricky, given the fact that I've only listened to each one
time. I suppose this is a limitation of the live reviewing format, but
I don't suppose this problem will occur too much. It's not sounding too
repetitive as I'm listening so I guess that's a plus for the remixes! I
notice some additional piano and spacey background noise on this one,
which I heartily approve of.
8. Scapegoat Dub
I'm expecting something different her, however, since the remix is
about 5 minutes longer than the original track. Right away the drums
sound even more drum n' bass/jungle style. Man these remixes make
Godflesh sound quite a lot like Killing Joke. I like how they make up
the extra time on these - it sort of deconstructs the original and
throws it a lot of buzzy electronics and ambient noise while the drums
pound on.
Overall, I really liked that. It was an interesting, and surprisingly
listenable introduction into a genre I've been meaning to investigate
for a while. I've been having a bit of a metal binge this week as well,
which helps.
Hope you enjoyed this.
Horatio x