“Music for me, is rarely complete, but it has to reach a point where enough is enough. Creatively, there has to be self-discipline. One has to end it.”. These are the words of Justin Broadrick, one half of industrial titans Godflesh. According to the press release their tenth album Decay will be their penultimate release but it’s being reported as their last in other quarters. It comes three years after the brilliant Purge, which contained some super groovy heaviness and fusing of hip-hop beats to their metallic grind. Somehow, Decay was created from the same sessions as Purge, which feels like a party album by comparison. Alongside bassist Ben Green, the duo have created one of the bleakest recordings I have ever heard.
Broadrick underwent major abdominal surgery this year, most of the album had been created previously, but some songs do feature vocals recorded with a hernia, and it shows! Broadrick feels that further Godflesh music is now physically impossible for him to manage, but thankfully he still wishes to make music. Things get nasty from the off with opening track ‘Master And Slave’ which gives me an instant sickened gut with it’s grinding tones, whistling drone keys and a whip crack beat. Voices writhe amidst the cacophony, unintelligible and vile, it’s a deeply unsettling piece, only slightly offset by some moderately uplifting tones as the track winds to the death.
Lead track ‘Living/Ending’ feels like a jack-knifing lorry careering up the motorway, recklessly smashing its way through any obstacles. Broadrick wretches up some bile with a contorted yelp and the only moment of relief comes when the guitars segue into a little passage of chords, albeit they sound devilishly offkey. Yet the track remains the most accessible of the album. ‘Feral Colony’ takes a glam stomp and welds it to a metallic industrial grind. The guitar riff causes sparks to fly with a buzz-saw menace. Underpinning this scathing soundscape is a filthy bass that burbles with an acidic atmospheric.
For these glorious times, a song entitled ‘Fear Of Man’ feels very apt, given the tyrants in charge. Clipped drums and more of that scuzzy bass underpin a screeching wailing synth/guitar. When a wave of distorted guitars laps against the shore, they bring a fleeting moment of respite from the terrorising tones. Fodder’ has a churning riff that rests on the precipice of self-destruction as the beat machine tries to fire up, failing in the attempt. The whole thing feels like being tossed about at sea on a tiny vessel as you sway from side to side struggling to keep your innards intact. When the sun eventually breaks through in the form of some droning guitars it’s a blessed relief.
If this is truly the final album from Godflesh then what a way to sign off. Album closer ‘Consume Me’ is the most terrifying piece of (anti) music I have ever heard. Well, since the last album from The Body that is. Once again, the percussion just can’t get fired up as drums clatter with abandon amidst screeching feedback and a wailing voice calls like an angel being ripped apart by demons. Those demons manifest themselves as a droning wave of distorted guitars. When the monstrous cacophony subsides to almost silence you feel the track is merciless coming to an end. But no, there’s a stinking belch of noise that engulfs you as clanging drums pound like hammered anvils. Chugging guitars grind as Broadrick takes on the persona of the devil himself growling “CONSUME ME!!!!” over and over. I felt utterly destroyed on the first listen to this incredibly dissonant track; I had to force myself to listen to it a few more times to compose this review. It truly is a nasty composition; it will pull you into an abyss of doom.
For me, Godflesh is the side-gig for Broadrick’s other line of work, Jesu. Not the other way round. With Jesu, he creates beautiful noise imbued with melody and only occasionally allows things to get a little ugly. Godflesh are a different beast altogether, and Purge was an altogether more palatable collection with more alignment to Jesu. I saw an extract from a recent interview with Broadrick which mentioned his depression and nihilistic mindset. So, it’s not hard to comprehend why this record sounds as despondent as it does. Decay is an extremely challenging listen, and if this is the end, it’s a fitting epitaph to one of industrial metal’s most uncompromising acts.
