Godflesh
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THE REVIEW

I have just returned home from one of my regular meditative pilgrimages to my mountains, now finally snow-covered. The bright and dazzling whiteness I encountered reaching the summit of Moncucco, almost two thousand meters high with a temperature nearing 10 degrees below zero, reminded me of this double anthology collection by Godflesh. Forget about the whiteness of the cover because this is a monstrous and suffocating compilation, which well summarizes the path of the band during their years at the "Earache Records" label.

My fingers are almost frozen from the cold I endured, it's hard to type, but I can't stop. I'm a stubborn mountaineer, and when I set my mind on something, I have to see it through; there are no half measures. Just as there are no half measures with the musical creation set up by Justin Broadrick at the end of the eighties after leaving Napalm Death; you either love them or hate them. It's always been that way with them.

You already know which side I’m on, given that this is my third review on "Godflesh".

Two discs for over one hundred and fifty nightmare minutes: it starts with the sparse and apocalyptic Industrial Metal of the beginnings, which then evolved and got contaminated with Dub and electronics in subsequent works. An intricate machine capable of creating a sound wall that stuns; Justin on guitar and G.C. on bass. The six strings cut you in half with a repeated and atrocious sound; no less is the distorted bass, terrifying in its mantra-like heaviness. Add to that an aseptic and detached drum machine which amplifies even more a sound from the infernal pit.

"You breed like rats, don't look behind you, you are already dead from the start": it's Justin’s desperate shout opening "Like Rats", one of the most famous and gruesome songs that Godflesh has composed. And we’re only on the second track of the first side named "Flesh Of God".

The second disc, named "Beyond The Flesh", gives room to the more experimental phase of the English band: there are remixes, rare and unpublished material, participation in the Peel Sessions of the renowned DJ John Peel. An excellent auditory compendium to understand the greatness of a band that never stopped, continually seeking evolution without ever denying the devastating industrial approach of their distant beginnings.

To be taken and listened to with appropriate caution, in small doses because they create dependence... AVALANCHE MASTER SONG...

Now I can tend to my numb body.

Ad Maiora.