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Rating: "Human nerve cells growing on a microchip"
This can be read in the album credits regarding the image on the cover of Selfless, the third full-length album by Godflesh. We are in the last months of 1994, and two things struck me immediately even before listening to the vinyl and delving into another worthy chapter of the industrial creature created and shaped by Justin Broadrick. First of all, Justin's statements describing the work as the most “Rock'n'Roll” since he put together his beastly entity in the late eighties. And finally, the transition to a more substantial record label such as Columbia Records, though the historic label Earache, which had handled all previous releases, was not sidelined, distributing the album across Europe. The word Rock should not make one think of a shift in the synthetic sound of the band; we are still faced with immense, repeated blocks of six-string riffs, accompanied by the ever-present bass that dictates the patterns to follow in song development. But the final result is much more controlled, fluid, with Justin's voice abandoning the desperate growl of the early works for a surprisingly clear vocal performance. The solemn painful lashes are not missing in the listening of the initial "Xnoybis" or the pounding single "Crush My Soul": Mega-Techno-Metal overflowing with industrial steel-covered power. Like Nine Inch Nails immersed in a high-temperature furnace ready to erupt tons of incandescent steel. Godflesh sound purists will not appreciate much this kind of "commercial" turn of the band; we are certainly very far from the impenetrability and complete brutality of Streetcleaner, but Selfless remains after years an excellent example of the continuous evolution, the continuous sonic exploration that has always characterized the music career of such an important figure for Metal, all without distinction of genres, as Justin Broadrick can be considered. Unfortunately, the album will sell a number of copies far below expectations, and the major chapter can already be considered closed; who knows what the heads at Columbia thought they had in their hands... Good for us anyway, since to this day Godflesh continues a very honorable career without showing signs of slowing down... ANYTHING IS MINE...
Ad Maiora.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
05 Empyreal (06:02)
Not, everyone
Can carry, The weight of the world
Feel, My decay
Feel, So alone
06 Crush My Soul (04:26)
Swallow me whole Make me learn Don't need me Crush my soul, make me feel How can I See hope When I never See my light, I'm empty inside
08 Toll (04:13)
Bad feeling, so low
Bad feeling, eden destroyed
Can't say, how close
You can smell it, in the air
10 Mantra (07:26)
Inside you, Feel free
Inside you, Come out
Be there, Within
Dictate, Your needs
11 Go Spread Your Wings (23:50)
Black eyes, can't breathe <i>[X2]
Go, Spread your wings <i>[X2]
Can't see, But won't fall
Can't feel, But Don't need
Vast chains to pull us down
Vast chains to hold us down
I need your heaven
And I need your hell
Yes I need your limits
Yes I need your guilt
I'll never escape <i>[X4]
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