Label
Avalanche Recordings
AREC032
- Godflesh has always been a tricky group to neatly compartmentalise. Their catalogue takes in all manner of genres, from grindcore and post-punk, to breakbeat and drum & bass, to hip-hop and power electronics. Decline And Fall shows no sign of bucking that trend, overlapping with other projects Justin Broadrick has been involved in during Godflesh's 13-year recording hiatus—tinges of Jesu's shoegaze metal, the fearsome industrialism of JK Flesh.
"Ringer" recalls the Godflesh of Streetcleaner, the LP now widely—and rightly—considered one of their best. It opens with a thin growl and explodes into a colossus of riffs, vocal moans and percussive pounding that seems to choke on itself before redoubling its strength and fading into an ominous stretch. "Dogbite" is more sprawling, with a piercing central riff and loping backbeat that descend into a churn of vocal barks and serrated noise, the elements seeming to grind against one another until sparks fly. A great juddering wall of guitars swallows the dub echo and frothy murk of "Playing With Fire"'s opening. They're peeled back to reveal the disembowelling riff at the song's core, Broadrick's vocal here shaped into a melodic murmur rather than a snarl. By contrast, "Decline And Fall" reaches its staggering heights quickly, thrashing around like a caged animal, the forward momentum so strong and inexorable the track feels only about two minutes long. Even when it seems like Godflesh are re-treading old ground, the effect is never less than thrilling.
TracklistA1 Ringer
A2 Dogbite
B1 Playing With Fire
B2 Decline & Fall