Godflesh
Pure
To describe Godflesh’s music as movements of prolonged abrasiveness punctuated with moments of stunning beauty would be accurate, if a bit disingenuous. In truth, Godflesh’s Pure is not as uninviting as it may sound. Set against the backdrop of industrial metal at the time, it comes across as more forward-thinking than Broken, more timeless than Psalm 69, with stronger grooves than Meantime, and more accessible than any of them. Two years after the release of Pure, Justin Broadrick, Godflesh’s founding and only constant member, told Guitar Magazine, “Our music is about hitting an emotional core in people with brutal power. At first all we wanted to do was crush our listeners, but then we wanted to hypnotize them.” Nothing could better describe the band. The hypnotic qualities of, say, “Don’t Bring Me Flowers” far outweigh its potential abrasiveness.
Godflesh never achieved the success deserved by and expected of them. Pure meant to capitalize on the headway made by Nine Inch Nails in the mainstream, but the kids were too busy listening to downtuned guitars and dissonant vocals to hear the intricately crafted, gut wrenching songs Godflesh offered. They became influencers instead. You can hear them in, say, Godspeed You Black Emperor or Liars. Over the course of their decade and a half career, Broadrick got invited to join both Danzig and Faith No More, but denied both in order to pursue Godflesh’s singular sound until 2002, when he suffered a nervous breakdown and broke up the band. They remain largely unknown, but emphatically loved. Kirk Hammett was reportedly a big fan of Godflesh, which makes you wonder if Metallica would have chosen to make Pure if it could have.
-Martin Brown, 2006
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