Review Summary: A remix that brings the pain.
Like many projects Justin Broadrick becomes involved with, all he has to do is touch a piece of music and it turns into an uncontrollable, eardrum shattering exercise of unpleasant atmospherics and head crushing industrial clatter; both of which always equate to an aesthetically pleasing trip down memory lane with Justin's brain child, Godflesh. But, if you take into account that these remixed tracks, from industrial beasts Khost, were already crushing enough to begin with, it takes a couple of minutes to comprehend what Godflesh could do to these tracks that would A: warrant a listen or B: bring enough new ideas to the table to make it interesting.
When you click on the EP's opening track "Inversion", both of these queries are obliterated within seconds; the bulky swagger and hammer of the rhythm section, coupled with the distorted vocals and guitar create an energy and force that is instantly enjoyable from the get-go. The EP is a scintillating exercise on how Godflesh can make something already heavy, even heavier and without sacrificing anything to make it feel dumbed down, pretentious or contrived. It's a devastating soundscape, and one that offers up a different vision for these songs. You can hear Godflesh really respect the source material; but they don't so much use it, as they do wear the tracks to destroy everything in their path. Everything is sent into the depths of despair before being packaged in the industrial mill: from the moment
Needles Into The Ground opens, to when it finishes, there isn't an inch of let up and it is fantastic.
The only track on here that offers a little less than the other 3 tracks is "Revelations Vultures Jackals Wolves", which is literally a punishing and exertive exercise of one's endurance. It is a wall of white noise being pummelled into your brain with the help of its rhythm section; it walks a fine line between pleasure and punishment. If you listen to this track with earphones it actually feels like you are getting a nail hammered into your brain right up until its final seconds. Yet, despite its unpleasant nature --with no real structure or focus-- it's an excellent curve ball for the EP and the result lets the other tracks really shine and standout.
It's been a damn good year for industrial music, and this tiny collection of remixed tracks most definitely falls into some of the best music I've heard this year. If you like this sort of music you are in for a serious treat.
SUPERB.
EDITIONS: VINYL(LTD RED), V̶I̶N̶Y̶L̶, C̶D̶, M̶P̶3̶
PACKAGING: Standard vinyl packaging, with an exclusive (LTD 200) red vinyl record.
SPECIAL EDITION: N/A
