Whoever said 13 is an unlucky number needs to have a listen to the new Godflesh track, “Ringer,” which premiered over at Pitchfork a little bit ago. It’s been a long dozen since Hymns came out in 2001, and this crushing grind of industrial metal makes it almost worth the wait.
The genre’s forebears released the track in front of Decline And Fall, an EP that marks the first release of new material from the pioneering duo of Justin K. Broadrick and GC Green in 13 years. Set to arrive via Broadrick’s Avalanche label June 26, the four song release sets the stage for the immensely anticipated new full length A World Lit Only By Fire this fall.
As teased in interviews over the past few years the new material rekindles the spirit of the group’s highly acclaimed early material while synthesizing and advancing upon the boundary pushing experiments of later releases, resulting in an improbable, but expertly integrated convergence of industrial, metal, hip hop, post punk, and dub.
Emerging from the tightly knit underground metal/grindcore scene of Birmingham, England in 1988, Godflesh quickly blazed their own trail with genre-detonating early albums like Streetcleaner and Pure, which proved immeasurably influential and canonical to an emerging wave of bands that sought to combine the ferocious sonics of metal with the booming drum programming of early hip hop.
The duo initially split in 2002, at which time Broadrick formed the highly acclaimed shoegaze-metal band Jesu. Godflesh reformed in 2009 for a run of well-received festival appearances and sold out headlining shows – including a stop at Royale in Boston last month, while gradually working on the material that would comprise the forthcoming new releases.
