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Recently I was listening to Godflesh’s Pure/Cold World/Slavestate 3-disc reissue that Earache put out, and I couldn’t help thinking that the music was fantastic but also quite dated. In referencing the techno and hip-hop of the day, Justin Broadrick was pushing boundaries. But contemporary sounds inevitably become obsolete.
Streetcleaner, which turns 20 today according to Wikipedia, suffers no such fate. It is “industrial metal” in that it employs a drum machine and descends from Swans. But otherwise it is sui generis. Broadrick programs the percussion almost without reference to humanity. There are kicks and snares, but no human would play them so cruelly and single-mindedly. The drum machine transcends being a musical instrument and becomes a pure weapon.
Purity makes Streetcleaner timeless. It does not need genre to operate. It is a howl of humanity in the face of its inhumanity, whether by machines or its own misdeeds: “You breed! Like rauuuts!” Aptly, the cover image comes from Altered States, whose tagline was “When he heard his cry for help, it wasn’t human.” If Black Sabbath fired the first guitar-based salvo against the industrialized world, fellow Brummies Godflesh completed the task 20 years later.
All those cyborg movies of the ’80s — Blade Runner, Terminator, Robocop, Evil Dead — Streetcleaner stripped them down to pure dread. Broadrick created a mechanized monster much larger than himself. No wonder he felt discomfort inhabiting it and eventually abandoned its shell. However, this tweet by Earache label head Digby Pearson has caused much speculation. Iron Man lives again, perhaps?
Buy:
Amazon (LP)
Amazon (CD)
Amazon (MP3)
Earache US (CD, LP)
Earache EU (CD, LP)
I remember the hip hop references in PURE sounding dated when the album came out. They didn't feel like contemporary references even then. They felt basic, elemental. And still do.
One of the few records that makes me physically uncomfortable.
I gotta turn this "transcends" thing into a drinkin' game. It behooves me.
I couldn't help thinking that the music was fantastic but also quite dated.
Couldn't disagree more, at least as far as Pure is concerned. That was Godflesh's peak, for me – the heaviness of the earliest stuff remained, but it was more metallic in the sense of all the excess flesh being burned off the gleaming metal skeleton. The beauty of the last two tracks – "Love, Hate (Slugbaiting)" and "Pure II" – goes far beyond anything Broadrick's been able to achieve with Jesu.
If Godflesh does play Hellfest, I hope it's the Broadrick/Green/Robert Hampson lineup.
Evil Dead was a cyborg movie?
also
"I didn't here voices, it was a conscience decision"
I've been a Godflesh fanboy for years, so it's good to see a little love for the classics now and then.
There's a thought that Streetcleaner could use a remastering job, but as underproduced as it is, it still destroys everything in its path (especially when cranked up).
I don't think Godflesh's discography has aged at all. 'Cold World' is so freakin' dissonant and heavy, I can't turn it up without blowing out a speaker.
looooove Streetcleaner. even though it's sent me on some terrifying head trips at points.
One of my favorite albums. I still listen to it at least once a week…
Streetcleaner is amazing. Greymachine? Not so much.
This is my favorite album ever and I find it still highly relevant — in fact, it becomes more relevant the further I get integrated into the working world. It captures the soul killing repetition of industrial society basically by sounding that way.
There are kicks and snares, but no human would play them so cruelly and single-mindedly.
My thoughts were very similer when I heard Pulp for the first time.
Is it just coincidence Us and Them when I came here?
I would say that some of Godflesh's older albums don't exactly sound dated but rather they lack some of the heaviness that later albums had. They were always heavy but the production of the early albums were a different sound.
Either way, I love them all.
I can't get to Twitter from work, so please someone tell that by this little blurb that Digby is hinting a new Godflesh album.
Meant to say I was listening to Us and Them…
Also, I love when you do Broadrick themed posts. Can't get enough.
Twenty years old and still no one has come close to topping the suffocating mindfuck that is Streetcleaner. It'd be nice to see a few state-side shows if they really are reforming.
this album is almost flawless.
the more i listen to it, the more i'm struck by just how psychedelic it is. behind all the grime and grit and metallic heft, it's damn near a pink floyd album. it affects me the same way, like tetsuo the iron man synched with obscured by clouds.
jesu makes total sense in retrospect.
That interesting, Andrew, that you hear it that way. Streetcleaner to me is pretty much the antithesis of Jesu. It indeed has much atmosphere, but that's dirt kicked up by steel instead of the fluff surrounding Jesu.
Is there anything new about the Pure/Cold World/Slavestate 3-disc reissue? Re-mastered, liner notes, anything?
Just wondering if it's worth geting since I have the 3 already.
Like Rats/Christbait Rising is the best album opening ever, IMHO.
Surely Godflesh were completing Black Sabbath's work 20 years later, rather than 30? BTW, it was the 40th anniversary of Led Zeppelin II last month, although I don't think of it as a metal album. By my reckoning, next May is the big four-oh.
I agree somewhat that Slavestate has dated, because of the techno-ish beats. OTOH, I don't think that of Pure. Some of the beats in Pure could still underlie hit singles today (provided all the JKB was scraped off of them).
Digby from Earache is hinting at a new Godflesh album??
Ah, not an album but a tour. Funny, I mentally erased the 'tweet' reference from the article on first read. Damn twitter.
Rob – If you already have those 3 releases, you don't need the reissues. They add no additional liner notes, and the remastered sound is nice but not revolutionary. The originals sounded fine to begin with.
Matt – Fixed! Thanks for the catch.
Also, Digby's tweet was about a possible Godflesh reunion for a festival next year.
I was just messing around on You Tube and found this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMMlN49_sYY
Godflesh snyched to Jesus Christ Superstar.
It's actually creepy how some of it works.
I played Like Rats while DJing at The Charleston yesterday. Made the dude who kept requesting "old Sheer Terror" and his girl friend realllllly happy.