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GODFLESH
Purge

Avalanche Recordings (2023)
Rating: 8/10

These UK experimental industrialists were the first ever band to give me a migraine, and they should take that as a compliment! It was their 1989 debut Streetcleaner which shook my brain as if it were in a blender and ever since then I’ve been a huge fan.

Purge is the ninth full-length studio album from Godflesh, the brainchild of Justin Broadrick and G.C. Green. For those unaware of what Godflesh is I recommend you merely tip-toe in such rusty waters because their pulsating rhythms and grinding thuds can be quite the uncomfortable experience.

With Purge the twosome continue with the throbbing extremity as Broadrick’s wails of woe infiltrate the driving, bass-led beat of opener ‘Nero’. It’s classic Godlesh; thumping, thudding and yet never afraid to groove even within its pallid, steel framework. The best example of such melodious strikes emerges with the superb ‘Army Of Non’ with its surprising yet repetitive hip-hop vocal samples, but it still remains a shuddering hammer to the skull. Meanwhile, ‘Land Lord’ is typically streetwise with its programmed beats, but where such a rhythm may sound stark on an old gangster rap opus Godflesh literally flashes it all out, grinding the gears as you surrender to a hypnotic state.

At times the boys nod to previous outings Pure (1992), Us And Them (1999) and Post Self (2017), but that’s no shock because it’s simply the hallmark of the band’s riveting cacophony. Whether it’s the trio of tracks already mentioned or the droning clatter of ‘The Father’, this is an inescapable maze of tortured clanks, trance inducing thuds and crushing bass.

‘Permission’ rips in with a steely riff before drifting into The Prodigy territory with its kicks. However, closer ‘You Are The Judge, The Jury And The Executioner’ doesn’t quite leave a lasting impression and neither does ‘Lazarus Leper’ or the grating ‘Mythology Of Self’. Also, the production seems sterile which in turn affects Green’s bass at times.

Purge is still a quality if somewhat mechanical sounding album and while very often the band does succeed with its simplistic bludgeoning, this time round the duo falls just short.

Neil Arnold

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