Review Summary: An often overlooked facet of Godflesh's discography that deserves a listen, especially if you're a fan of Justin Broadrick's other side projects.
Music critics usually refer to the seminal industrial metal band Godflesh either when referring to “Streetcleaner” or their body of work as a whole. More often than not, Godflesh is praised for their sharp brutality, ingenious experimentation, and nihilistic atmosphere vis-*-vis songs like “Christbait Rising” or “Like Rats”. While Justin K. Broadrick and company do get their deserved praise, it comes across as empty or superficial, especially when Godflesh expands past the oppressively bleak “Streetcleaner”.
A prime example of Godflesh’s experimental streak is the often overlooked album “Songs in Love and Hate”, an eclectic collection of hip-hop and dub influenced metal tracks that expound upon the idiosyncratic Godflesh sound. Part of the expansion stems from Broadrick’s use of a human drummer, namely Bryan Mantia, as opposed to a drum machine, in order to add a distinctive groove to the songs on this record. Groove is a word I would have never thought to use when describing Godflesh’s music, however groove manifests as the experimental factor on this record. Eschewing the cold, mechanical beats of “Streetcleaner” and “Pure”, Godflesh brings a whole new dynamic to this record, particularly in “Sterile Prophet”, “Circle of ***”, and “Time, Death, and Wastefulness”, where Bryan drives the songs and Justin just adds textual accentuation with hypnotic riffs.
Godflesh has always been about hypnotism and meditation, whether through percussive sounds or through layers of guitar feedback, and all of the songs on this album follow that tried and true formula to a much greater extent that before. Quite a few of the songs here, specifically “Hunter”, “Amoral”, and “Almost Heaven” base themselves around two or three different parts that alternate for mind pacifying effect. Even with the changes within those songs, melodically speaking, the riffs aren’t all that different from each other, but what these songs lack in variety (which honestly does not bother me) pales in comparison to what they do emotionally.
Though the range of emotion shown in Godflesh really only spans the negative spectrum (hate, anger, alienation, disgust, etc.), Broadrick does something different with this album. Yes, the songs here are angry (“Angel Domain”, “Circle of ***”, “Wake”), however they approach anger in way that does not convey estrangement from society, but an active challenge of exploitative society as evidenced by specific lyrics scattered through the album. For example the lyrics: “Feel weak, you just mean nothing/Feel owned, just feel like nothing” and “You corrupt, you enslave/Enforced taboos, to the grave/Make me right, to fit your mould/Make me right, like your moral code” from “Circle of ***” and “Amoral” respectively, go beyond authorial individualism (i.e. his feelings) into broader statements of awareness of evils in society.
As a side note, the song “Frail”, in my opinion, is the first song written by Justin Broadrick that truly encapsulates what he will go on to do in Jesu. The lyrics are introspective and come from a very personal place of self-awareness and self-empowerment. Though not overly positive, the song sounds like a Jesu song: a slow, meandering track that builds with a minor key riff that builds an atmosphere of longing and regret. This song shows a particular maturity to Justin’s writing that he did not showcase before, which makes “Frail” my favorite song from the album.
Overall, I think this album has been vastly underrated by mainstream metal critics because it’s buried deeper into Godflesh’s career. The songwriting here, albeit experimental, shows Justin’s Techno Animal experience coming to the forefront of his main musical project. The hip-hop influences are obvious, but welcome bits of experimentation that help this album stay fresh. Overall, this is a solid offering from Godflesh, although it is far from their best work. The lack of melodic variation may be a turn off for some listeners who prefer their music to capture their attention with an onslaught of memorable riffs and catchy vocals. Also, hardcore fans of “Streetcleaner” may not enjoy how Godflesh scaled back their brutality on this record in favor of exploring music from non-metallic genres. Is this album the end-all, be-all Godflesh record? Absolutely not, however this album does put forth an interesting take on industrial metal that I haven’t really heard since this record.
