Godflesh – PURGE
Thirty years since the release of Pure, Godflesh continue to sound as relevant as ever on their new album PURGE
Godflesh’s ninth studio album – their first since 2017's Post Self – sees the Birmingham pioneers of industrial noise (guitarist/vocalist Justin K. Broadrick and bassist Ben Green) revisit the template behind their 1992 hip-hop-inspired record Pure.
NERO kicks things off with a muffled boom bap beat, before erupting in a maelstrom of monolithic riffs and tortured screams. Elsewhere, this combination of primitive drum machine loops and electronic samples with Green’s driving bass and Broadrick’s trademark growl provides tracks like LAND LORD and PERMISSION with an unholy swagger.
THE FATHER briefly takes things in a completely different direction. Its shoegazy textures, more reminiscent of Broadrick’s ambient drone project Jesu than anything on Pure, provide a much needed respite before the double barrelled assault of MYTHOLOGY OF SELF and YOU ARE THE JUDGE THE JURY AND THE EXECUTIONER close the album in typically brutal fashion.
Just like Detroit Techno imitated the rhythms of the factory floor, the mechanised brutality of PURGE conjures images of urban decay and neglected industrial landscapes. Perhaps it’s the parallels between the cost of living crisis and the post-Thatcher social alienation that inspired the band’s early work, but 30 years since the release of Pure, Godflesh continue to sound as relevant as ever.
Listen to: NERO, PERMISSION, THE FATHER