April 2022 Feature Release – The Sphere Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month’s feature release for The Sphere has been nominated by myself. It's 1994's sludgerific four-track "Merciless" E.P. from Birmingham's finest industrial metal export Godflesh. I was a huge fan of this one back in the day & it went on to play a significant role in my household in the decade that followed. I recently noticed that it's one of the hundreds of releases from my past that I'm still yet to rate though so I can't wait to see how it sits against the competition a full 28 years after I first wrapped my ears around it.

https://metal.academy/releases/249

Ben, can you please rename this thread to April rather than March?

I did my review, here's its summary:

Merciless is pure industrial metal, fresh from the 90s. The record label Earache is essential for game-changing albums from bands like At the Gates, Cult of Luna, Woods of Ypres, and of course, Godflesh. The bass really drives through as G.C. Green pounds away, while Justin Broadrick plays his droning distorted guitarwork. The guitar and bass are in a nice loud balance with distorted tone. It sounds so raw and clear, and the drum machine almost sounds like real drums! The title track is a slow heavy doom track, and the rest is more industrial-sounding with one of the songs being a remix of a song from the Pure album, all put together in another simply great EP that you can listen to without disappointment. It focuses on minimalism instead of technicality that never fails to amaze me. This is one of Godflesh's more metallic releases and an underrated offering that should be picked up. Merciless deserves listening mercy!

4.5/5

I have made my own way through our metal world by and large and consequently there are a significant number of fairly popular bands that I had never listened to prior to joining Metal Academy. Godflesh are one of those bands and this is the first time I have knowingly heard any of their material and, you know what, I don't feel like I've missed out much in this case. Sure, I really like the chunky, sludgy riff of the opening title track, but the vocals are absolutely awful and ruin what might otherwise have been a decent start to the ep. The vocal woes don't improve as we get further in and as things get more industrialised I get increasingly alienated by the sound. Blind isn't too bad, just enough machine-like chugging, but Unworthy just started to piss me off as it went on for what seemed an interminable time, but was in fact only seven minutes. Flowers sounds like they are trying to metalise John Lydon's PIL to little success and holds little appeal for me in all honesty.

At least my ignorance of Godflesh hasn't been too costly for me as it seems that they are not really my cup of tea after all.

2.5/5

Edit 11/04/22: On reflection and a subsequent listen, I may have scored it a little harshly, so I'm bumping it half a star to 3/5.

As I said in my introduction piece for this feature release, Godflesh were absolutely huge for me back in the early 90's & this release certainly played it's part in that. On the surface it may seem like an also-ran in the band's discography & can come across as more of a collection of disparate pieces of work rather than a cohesive & intentionally structured album-style tracklisting but when examined in greater detail you might discover that the sum of it's parts amounts to much more than is initially apparent. You see "Merciless" showcases a wonderful cross-section of Godflesh's various different styles & techniques & is universally successful in doing so. The opening track is an anomaly in the band's career with it's crushingly heavy industrial doom metal sound being something you won't find anywhere else. It's one of the best tracks of Godflesh's entire back catalogue with the two main riffs both having a timeless quality that perfectly represents what metal music is all about. Then we see Justin & co. moving away from metal altogether for a couple of tracks in "Blind" & "Unworthy" which both take on more of a traditional industrial sound before the wonderfully trance-inducing post-industrial metal of closer "Flowers" creates an atmosphere that borders on beauty through the use of natural harmonics & a repeated mechanical pulse. It's interesting that Andi has stated that this is "pure industrial metal" & "one of Godflesh's more metallic releases" because I disagree with that. The opener is certainly one their most metal tracks in the traditional sense of the term but the other three tracks aren't particularly metal with the two pieces in the middle of the E.P. having nothing to do with metal whatsoever in my opinion. I can understand why Sonny has trouble with Justin's pitchy vocals but I think their imperfections are kinda the point as they provide a much needed counterpoint for the precisely programmed mechanical soundscape around them. I guess I'm suggesting that their fragility represents the human element in Godflesh's sound which enables the listener to have something they can relate to amidst what is essentially a very foreign & robotic machine world with G.C. Green's dense & weighty bass lines repeatedly punishing the listener.

While the opener & closer are the clear high points of the E.P. for me & it would be fairly easy to see the two colder industrial pieces between them as filler, there's an undeniable quality about everything Godflesh touch here which enables the two senior tracks to carry this E.P. into true classic territory in my opinion & this is why I've selected it as a feature release this month. I'm not suggesting that it's an underrated release because it's generally very highly regarded but it certainly doesn't receive the attention that many of the band's full-lengths or their self-titled debut E.P. do & I think that's a shame as it's easily as strong as the majority of Godflesh's albums. I can't help but think that "Merciless" & "Flowers" should have been kept for a full-length album actually because they're almost wasted in the E.P. format. This should be essential listening for fans of the band & industrial music as a whole.

4.5/5