Godflesh

Justin Broadrick was one of the most important musical figures of the late Eighties, as well as one of the leading architects of a musical language capable of merging heavy sounds with industrial and electronic music. Initially a guitarist in Napalm Death, he founded Head Of David, who already dealt in a very dark sound, influenced by both Black Sabbath and Killing Joke (as Broadrick himself has stated). After a brief appearance under the name Fall Of Because, Broadrick picked up the guitar again and brought to life his most important creation, Godflesh.

Although they can't be considered the first band of the genre (Ministry and, in part, Prong come to mind), Godflesh were in all likelihood the most important in defining that decadent, resigned sound that would mark industrial-metal throughout the following decade. The self-titled debut EP proves extremely dark, still tied to the "doom" sound of Head Of David and to thrash-metal, while with the following "Streetcleaner", the band's absolute masterpiece, the vision is complete; the record features decidedly more industrial sonorities, the drumming grows heavier and more obsessive, still influenced by grindcore but totally transfigured into funereal rhythms (electronic drums are omnipresent), and the flood of electronic effects and distortion becomes more intense.

The album opens impetuously with "Like Rats", a classic example of an industrial-metal song, with riffs typical of thrash, made darker by electronic distortion and an incessant, funereal drumming; "Christbait Rising" follows the same path, stretching on relentlessly for almost seven minutes. From "Pulp" onward the band sails into ever deeper waters; the drums' pace draws closer to a funeral march, while the riffs and vocals grow ever more sepulchral; "Dream Long Dead" is a dark ritual, a macabre dance in the style of Killing Joke, as well as one of the album's masterpieces, as is the superb "Head Dirt", which in its second half turns almost into a gothic-tinged ambient-industrial piece, dominated by a crescendo of guitar distortion that paints an increasingly spectral landscape.

"Devastator" is another example of a march of the damned, complete with tortured vocals, a sort of interlude ahead of another high point of the record: "Mighty Trust Krusher"; first a metallic, obsessive riff, then the pounding drum hits project an apocalyptic backdrop, over which Broadrick's voice enters, particularly charged with anguish and despair ("Hate me/ tread on me/ and you taught me/ and finally slay me... now"). "Life Is Easy" is another especially dramatic track, with lyrics among the rawest and most intense on the record ("Life is debt... is dead"); the title track, almost in contrast, is instead more violent and faster, closer to the band's more grindcore sonorities. Closing the album, "Locust Furnace", yet another (great) example of a driving industrial-metal song, with that final scream building into an increasingly harsh crescendo, choked by the spreading metallic clangor that delivers the record's merciless farewell.

"Streetcleaner" isn't just one of the greatest masterpieces of industrial-metal and one of the most intense records of the entire Eighties: "Streetcleaner" is a raw, desperate vision of our society, a cynical and realistic portrait of humanity that few others will ever have the courage to paint.

P.S.: the bonus version of the CD contains 4 tracks that had been intended for an EP that never came out, and were added later.

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28/05/2006