By: Dave 'Forgiven' Guzda
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Released on October 6, 2014 via Avalanche Recordings
After a very long absence the distinctive industrial/metal sound of BC Green’s bass with JK Broadrick’s guitar and vocals has returned on their new release A World Lit Only By Fire. The album is every bit the coarse hulking beast of distorted turbulence you would expect from Godflesh. A World Lit Only By Fire depicts a dark grim world, mired in hopeless pursuits, sliding toward annihilation.
The album starts off like a climactic scene in a horror film. A gentle drone, a light hi-hat beat, the tension slowly builds, you can sense something deadly is coming… then it drops…the thunderous bass, the pulsating pounding of drums and wrathful bolts of twisted guitar. All at once the merciless sound of ‘New Dark Ages’ echoes with its powerful earsplitting grind. Then Broadrick’s angry growl flares up. He sounds like a man pushed to edge, full of rage, every word he spits out drips with piercing aggression. Godflesh’s sound is still monstrous.
The menacing slab of musical terror the duo creates remains very minimal in structure. There is some drone, an occasional sample and sporadic atmospherics on A World Lit Only By Fire, but the sound is always dominated by guitar, bass and beats. Overall the song arrangement on A World Lit Only By Fire feels direct, straightforward and mature. The goods are delivered in spades. Despite sounding like Hell’s legions being unleashed, the music still maintains simple striking melodies capable of pulling listeners in. The songs never race at break-neck speeds, the pace is a slow methodical lumber. This intentional pace allows the heaviness of the sound time to resonate. This is well exemplified on tracks like ‘Deadend’ and ‘Shut Me Down’ where BC’s bass sounds like the sputtering cough of a supercharged race engine. The sludgy, bleak grind is an intoxicating stew of repetitive head bobbing rhythms.
JK’s vocals are mercifully not always vicious in nature. With the track ‘Life Giver Life Taker’, the vocals are washed deep within the mix to the extent they are barely discernible. This gives the driving beat, galloping bassline and chugging/droning guitar a little more prominence. The lyrics on the album are bitter and dreary, echoing tones of human suffering, hopelessness and futility. From ‘Obeyed’: “Listen / You’re alone / You’re a cog / In their machine / You won’t / Make a difference / You will never / Make a difference”. The words are a somber reflection of societal woes felt many many and illuminated by Godflesh.
‘Carrion’ is an exuberant track that channels Black Sabbath for a few moments with its twisted and grotesque guitar tones. The beat is infectious, the bass punchy and the guitar oozes a doomy vibe. The track ends with sounds of a stark industrial break down that could be the death of an old grizzled factory. Other stand out tracks include the ‘Tower of Emptiness’ with its crisp bludgeoning guitar and deafening wall of drone that ends the song. The album ends with the lavishly layered 8 minute crawl ‘Forgive our Fathers’. JK sings like Jesu JK which makes the vocals feel very raw and exposed. The track is highlighted with forlorn percussive patterns and evocative guitar which cuts into your soul like the words JK sings. “Forgive our fathers / For they’ll never/ Be in heaven / Their kingdom has come / And they’ll never / Deliver us from evil“. The album and track concludes with some stunning vocal layering as ‘Forgive our Fathers’ is repeated, echoed then fades away.
A World Lit Only By Fire is unforgiving lyrically, sonically crushing and masterfully constructed. Broadrick and Green have created a relevant and impressive album that shows no rust from the band’s long hiatus.
You can believe it. Godflesh is back.
