The English industrial metal band Godflesh have released eight studio albums and six extended plays along with a number of singles, compilations and remix and live albums. The group formed in 1982 under the name Fall of Because, but they did not release any music (outside of a 1986 demo tape titled Extirpate)[1] until 1988 when Justin Broadrick and B. C. Green changed the project's name to Godflesh and recorded a self-titled debut EP.[2] That EP, released through the independent label Swordfish, was met with underground success and has since been recognised as one of the first industrial metal releases, if not the first.[3][4][5]
Godflesh discography | |
---|---|
Studio albums | 9 |
Live albums | 3 |
Compilation albums | 5 |
Video albums | 1 |
Music videos | 5 |
EPs | 6 |
Singles | 14 |
Remix albums | 2 |
Though the self-titled EP acted as Godflesh's introduction to innovation and experimentation, their next release and first through Earache Records, 1989's Streetcleaner, garnered even more recognition for its musical importance.[6][7][8] After the success of Streetcleaner, Godflesh recorded Pure in 1992, which has drawn retrospective recognition as a significant release in the post-metal genre.[9][10] The band's third album, Selfless (1994), was Godflesh's debut on Columbia Records.[11] The album sold under expectations,[12] and that coupled with MTV banning the music video of its lead single, "Crush My Soul", led to Columbia dropping support of Godflesh.[11][13] Regardless of the disappointing commercial performance of Selfless, Broadrick considers that album and all of the preceding releases as Godflesh's best material.[14][15]
In 1996, Godflesh, back on Earache, released Songs of Love and Hate, which featured Bryan Mantia on drums; this was a significant departure from the band's characteristic style, since all of their previous releases had been structured around programmed industrial beats from a drum machine.[16] Broadrick later described this shift as a dilution of Godflesh's original goal, which was to meld human and machine music.[17] Love and Hate in Dub, a remix album released in 1997, saw Godflesh again experimenting, this time with hip hop, breakbeats and dub.[18][19] Those experiments continued and heightened with the 1999 studio album Us and Them, which again featured machine percussion.[20] After Us and Them proved creatively dissatisfying for Broadrick,[21] the band found a new live drummer (this time in Ted Parsons). Hymns (2001) was recorded in a professional studio, which led to a great deal of frustration for the band.[22][23] Shortly after Hymns' release, Green quit Godflesh, and Broadrick officially ended the band not long after that.[24]
Godflesh reformed in 2010 as Broadrick and Green.[25] After performing scattered shows for four years, the band's return album, A World Lit Only by Fire (2014), was released to critical acclaim and appeared on several critics' year-end lists.[26][27] It was a notably heavy industrial metal album focused again on downtuned guitar, distorted bass and driving machine drums.[28][29] In 2017, Godflesh's eighth album, Post Self, was released. Like A World Lit Only by Fire, it drew critical praise and award recognition;[30][31] unlike that previous album, however, Post Self proved introspective and experimental.[32] Despite regular acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, Godflesh have received only minor commercial success.[33]
Albums
Studio albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Notes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK Indie [34][35] | GRE [36] | US Heat [37] | US Sales [38] | US Taste [39] | |||
Streetcleaner |
| 19 | 45 | — | — | — |
|
Pure |
| — | — | — | — | — |
|
Selfless |
| 12 | — | — | — | — |
|
Songs of Love and Hate |
| — | — | — | — | — |
|
Us and Them |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
Hymns |
| — | — | — | — | — | |
A World Lit Only by Fire |
| 47 | — | 22 | — | 25 |
|
Post Self |
| 41 | — | 23 | — | — |
|
Purge |
| 29 | — | — | 94 | — |
|
"—" denotes a title that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Extended plays
Title | EP details | UK Indie [34] | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Godflesh | 20 |
| |
Slavestate |
| — | |
Cold World |
| — | |
Merciless |
| — |
|
Messiah |
| — | |
Decline & Fall |
| — | |
"—" denotes a title that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Remix albums
Title | Album details | Notes |
---|---|---|
Slavestate Remixes |
|
|
Love and Hate in Dub |
|
|
Compilation albums
Title | Album details | Notes |
---|---|---|
The Ten Commandments |
|
|
Life Is Easy |
|
|
In All Languages |
|
|
New Flesh in Dub Vol 1 |
|
|
Long Live the New Flesh |
|
|
Live albums
Title | Album details | Notes |
---|---|---|
Streetcleaner: Live at Roadburn 2011 |
| |
Godflesh – The Earache Peel Sessions |
|
|
Pure : Live |
|
Singles
Title | Year | Album | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
"Pulp"/"Christbait Rising" | 1989 | Streetcleaner |
|
"Slateman" | 1991 | Non-album single | |
"Straight to Your Heart" | Loopflesh/Fleshloop |
| |
"Mothra" | 1992 | Pure | |
"Xnoybis" | 1995 | Selfless | |
"Crush My Soul" |
| ||
"F.O.D. (Fuck of Death)" | 2013 | Non-album single | |
"Ringer" | 2014 | Decline & Fall | |
"New Dark Ages" | A World Lit Only by Fire | ||
"Imperator" | |||
"Post Self" | 2017 | Post Self | |
"Be God" | |||
"Nero" | 2023 | Purge |
|
"Land Lord" |
|
References
External links
- Godflesh on Bandcamp through Avalanche Recordings (2003–present)
- Godflesh on Bandcamp through Earache Records (1988–2001)
- Godflesh discography on fan-managed website in operation since 1998
- Godflesh on Discogs