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Godflesh was formed in 1988 in Birmingham, England by Justin Broadrick, who was an ex-member of Napalm Death, Ben Green, and a drum machine. Prior to this the duo had worked together along with guitarist Paul Neville under the moniker Fall Of Because, a name which appears to have been taken from Killing Joke's song of the same name. Godflesh mixed industrial drum machine beats with discordant guitar and depth-charge bass. Although much of their work shamelessly owes it's influence to a collusion of Swans, Big Black, Black Sabbath and, to a lesser extent, Throbbing Gristle, they were one of the first bands to pioneer the sound of industrial metal, going so far as to influence the well known industrial metal band Ministry, and even Nine Inch Nails. An impressive series of early releases marked their territory in the underground arena with highly regarded albums such as Streetcleaner and Pure, which mastered the effectiveness of low-fi production values in heavy music. A brief flirtation with major label Columbia Records in 1994 for Merciless EP and Selfless, saw the duo take on a more high-end production approach. After a solid return to form in 1996 with Songs of Love and Hate, the group seemed to flounder for the remainder of the nineties sounding uninspired and toying with minimalist electonics. However, in 2001 Godflesh released the double album retrospective In All Languages and an album of new material, Hymns, that managed to bring the band back to it's slow and heavy roots. The following year Godflesh disbanded, but still released a remastered version of their extremely rare 1994 [EP] Messiah in 2003, which was doubled in length with all new remixes as a sort of parting gift.
During it's 13+ years of existence, other notable members/contributors included Robert Hampson, Ted Parsons and Paul Raven.
Discography
- Godflesh (1988)
- Streetcleaner (1989)
- Slateman/Wound [EP] (1991)
- Slavestate (1991)
- Slavestate Remixes [EP] (1991)
- Cold World [EP] (1992)
- Pure (1992)
- Merciless [EP] (1994)
- Selfless (1994)
- Songs of Love and Hate (1996)
- Love and Hate in Dub (1997)
- Us and Them (1999)
- In All Languages [Double Album] (2001)
- Hymns (2001)
- Messiah (2003)
See also
External links
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