Godflesh – Purge (Review)

Ninth album from the Uk pioneers of Industrialised Post-Metal, and their third full length record since reforming with the release of their LP A World Lit Only by Fire, and accompanying EP Decline & Fall (both released in 2014). The concept of Purge (released June 9th via Avalanche Records) was for Justin Broadrick (Vocals / Guitars / Drum Programming) and B.C. Green (Bass) to capture the essence and revisit the sound and style of their classic sophomore album Pure (1992), and provide an Old-School Godflesh flavour, in contrast to their last record the more experimental Post Self (2017).

And low and behold it’s absolutely mission accomplished from the pair, as one listen to Purge and you are instantly transported back to their early-mid nineties sound, maintaining that raw DIY ethic that made their style unique, while also providing a Bassier heavy production. ‘Nero’ and ‘Land Lord’ open the record with the kind of clanking infectious repetitive riffing that Broadrick made his name creating, while setting the bar for the rest of the album, as his nihilistic gruff sounding vocals float in and out of the riffs and breakbeats.

‘Army of Non’ opens with a thunderous Bassline which the guitar then mimics with that hypnotic repetition, while the vocals have a distinctly Punk edge to them. ‘Lazarus Leper’ is eerie and bleak with an ominous thumping bass and piercing leads set over marching percussive drums. While ‘Permission’ provides a little more of a throwback nineties rave Break-beat feel to the percussion, with Broadrick’s vocals taking on a kind of Underworld – ‘Born slippy’ style, but laid over a distinctively monotonous Godflesh riff.

Comparatively ‘The Father’ is stripped back with clean vocals stuttering in and out with minimal percussion, and starts to take Purge in more of an experimental direction, before Godflesh drop the Doom-laden ‘Mythology of Self’, slow and ponderous with the gruffest sounding vocals on the record. The album signs off with the superb ‘You Are the Judge, the Jury, and the Executioner’, which provides the most experimental composition of all, where clean ethereal vocals and guitar leads, sit over a pulsating and bubbling Bassline.

Godflesh have a real knack of providing 2-3 main riffs per song, and entwining the narrative of the music around these simple yet mightily effective arrangements, exploring repetition with subtle changing soundscapes to provide an alluring and intoxicating listen. There is a minimalistic approach to the music, and a real muddy DIY vibe that also transports you back to when they were first experimenting in the studio, and laying the foundations for their innovative sound. And this new record absolutely sounds like it sits in amongst those vintage releases, from Pure (1992) to Selfless (1994) and Songs of Love and Hate (1996), and it is unquestionably a fine addition to their impressive catalogue of sounds. 8/10

Words by Abstrakt_Soul