The Industrial Metal Thread

So for this weekend's top ten list I decided to tackle my Top Ten Conventional Industrial Metal Releases Of All Time. See what you think:

01. Mick Gordon – “DOOM (Original Game Soundtrack)” (2016)

02. Fange – “Pantocrator” (2021)

03. Godflesh – “Streetcleaner” (1989)

04. Ministry – “Psalm 69” (1992)

05. The Amenta – “Flesh Is Heir” (2013)

06. Kill The Thrill – “Tellurique” (2005)

07. Nine Inch Nails – “Broken” E.P. (1992)

08. Godflesh – “Pure” (1992)

09. Godflesh – “Selfless” (1994)

10. Red Harvest – “Internal Punishment Programs” (2004)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/184

Godlfesh - "Cold World" E.P. (1991)

I think it’s fair to say that the first few releases from Birmingham industrial metal godfathers Godflesh blew me away back in the very early 1990’s. My immature teenage mind had simply never encountered music as cold & barren as records like “Godlfesh”, “Streetcleaner” or “Slatestate” before & I found myself absolutely lapping that shit up. By the time 1991’s “Cold World” E.P. hit the shelves I was already well & truly onboard with everything that Justin Broadrick & G.C. Green were dishing out so you can imagine my surprise upon reading the early reviews for “Cold World” which were nothing short of scathing. From the information presented to me, it sounded like Godflesh were steering away from the oppressive noise of their earlier works towards a cleaner, more accessible &… *gulp*… dance music-infused sound. My taste in metal was getting more extreme with every passing minute at the time so I elected not to investigate “Cold World” for fear of tainting my adoration for one of my very favourite artists. My attention would be more than restored through 1992’s classic “Pure” sophomore album shortly afterwards though & I’d subsequently follow each successive release with enthusiasm throughout the 1990’s but strangely I didn’t find myself investigating “Cold World” until my return to metal from a self-imposed, decade-long metal hiatus in 2009 & that experience immediately saw me questioning why I’d hesitated in the first place.

I guess it’s not too hard to see why some critics were put off by “Cold World” for purely stylistic reasons. When you take into account that extreme metal was getting progressively darker, more evil & infinitely more extreme, “Cold World” seemed to be taking Godflesh’s art in the opposite direction. But when you look at it from a creative standpoint you’ll discover that it represented a bold step out into the musical unknown & was very much a turning point for Justin’s creative direction. This becomes clearer when you consider that the next few Godflesh records took the concepts it contains & expanded on them in ways that saw Godlfesh almost transcending the boundaries that the rest of the scene were working with. Were those releases always unanimously successful? Well, no they weren’t but it was always intriguing to see a true artist exploring musical territories that hadn’t been touched on before.

“Cold World” is a four track E.P. that is a pretty solid representation of what the E.P. format was originally intended for. It was recorded as a part of the sessions for the “Pure” album & includes two brand new songs (the title track & “Nihil”) as well as two remixes of “Nihil”. “Cold World” is easily the most traditional & familiar of the four tracks although the production is noticeably cleaner & it’s more riff-based than we’d come to expect from Godflesh. Justin’s vocals are also a bit cleaner than the ugly hardcore bark he’d championed previously & one gets the feeling that “Cold World” could easily have been included on “Pure” without sounding out of place. I really like it too but wouldn’t say that it’s one of the band’s many classics. “Nihil”, on the other hand, manages to reach greater heights in my opinion. The guitar work is noisier & the instrumentation is a lot more infused with the electronic & dance music influences I mentioned. The hooks require a few listens to dig their teeth in but, once they do, you’ll find it hard to pull yourself free so I find “Nihil” to be a bold statement from Justin that warns the listener of the creative barriers he was intending on smashing down in the coming years. It’s a masterstroke from a true musical genius & is one of the most overlooked tracks of Godflesh’s career.

The two remixes aren’t quite as compelling but both are very solid inclusions nonetheless. Despite what some websites will have you believe, these reworkings don’t have much to do with metal at all & perhaps that’s been one of the stumbling blocks people have found when trying to appreciate “Cold World” as an holistic piece of art. The two tracks sound relatively similar too which probably doesn’t help the majority of listeners who don’t have the background in techno that I do. You really need to treat each track as an isolated piece in order to fully appreciate their cold, dark electro-industrial soundscapes as they don’t really work all that well when viewing “Cold World” as a collective release. For that reason, it’s easier to think of it as a single containing multiple tracks that are intended to be played in isolation, perhaps in a DJ set which is something I can relate to given that I was a club techno DJ during most of the 2000’s.

Despite the troubles some may experience with getting their heads around the E.P. format, the material on “Cold World” is all of a very high quality with the release showcasing a consistency that only elite performers can provide. Yes, it may have been Godflesh’s weakest release to the time but I’d suggest only by a small margin & this fact really only goes to prove what a special act Godflesh were. Everything they’d touched had turned to gold & people were starting to push their expectations higher into the stratosphere which made it increasingly more difficult to satisfy them. Somehow I suspect that Justin didn’t give a fuck though & “Cold World” goes a long way to proving that. It should be essential listening for fans of the band or anyone with a penchant for industrial metal artists like Fall of Because, Pitchshifter or Ministry.

4/5

Godflesh - "Slavestate" (1991)

Birmingham industrial metal legends Godflesh had absolutely blown me away with their debut album "Streetcleaner" in 1989/90. I was just a young & impressionable chap at the time & had heard nothing like the dark, noisy & abrasive sounds that were coming out of my stereo speakers when I initially absorbed songs like "Head Dirt", "Christbait Rising" & "Like Rats" on late-night metal radio & my subsequent investigation of the record in its entirety would be nothing short of breath-taking. I'd quickly investigate Godflesh's earlier 1988 self-titled E.P. & would find it to be really solid too but the addition of a couple of extra tracks for the CD version made all the difference & saw me also claiming "Godflesh" as a classic release. 1991's "Slavestate" E.P. would be a bit of a slow burner for some but I would find myself captivated & enthralled by the sheer originality & creativity that Justin Broadrick (Jesu/Napalm Death/Fall of Because), G.C. Green (Fall of Because) & Paul Neville (Fall of Because) had managed to dish up. It was a completely uncompromising & ground-breaking experiment that wouldn't sit well with everyone but which I simply seemed to understand on more of a visceral level than most people could achieve.

The major difference with "Slavestate" is the introduction of elements of electronic dance music within Godflesh's dark & oppressive sound, an idea that didn't sit well with some. I may not have known it at the time but I would later go on to discover that I hold a burning passion for techno music so perhaps I'm just more open to this sort of idea but the new hybrid sound worked beautifully as far as I was concerned. Don't get me wrong. This was still well & truly an industrial metal record & was easily identifiable as being the same artist that produced "Streetcleaner" but there'd been a clear adjustment in timbre & atmosphere which was perhaps always destined to polarize listeners.

The four tracks included on the vinyl edition of the E.P. are all of a very high quality with the lengthiest of them "Perfect Skin" being an absolute masterpiece & ensuring that "Slavestate" would be regarded as an industrial metal classic. The CD version of the release was more of a compilation though with the addition of the "Slavestate Remixes" & "Slateman/Wound '91" singles which were both just as classic in their own rights. The combination of the three releases sees the CD version slightly topping the standard vinyl edition with the stronger electro-industrial direction of the remixes giving it an even more fresh & exciting feel that I genuinely love. "Slavestate Total State Mix" & "Slateman" would go on to become anthems for my youth while "Slavestate (Radio Slave)" wasn't all that far behind either.

Despite the lukewarm response, I can't help but feel that "Slavestate" is another masterpiece of cold, abrasive industrial art that was clearly ahead of its time & suffered a little bit for it. It may not quite have matched "Streetcleaner" for sheer menace but it certainly marked a clear pathway for the future that would see Broadrick & co. running amok in a world of electronic madness & rarely failing to deliver anything short of top-class results. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I regard "Slavestate" as a better record than the more widely celebrated "Godflesh" E.P. these days which is really saying something. I would definitely recommend making the investment in the CD/Spotify version of the release though as I feel like it's the more complete edition with each of the three releases getting better & better as the CD progresses. Fans of Pitch Shifter, Fall of Because & Skin Chamber should regard "Slavestate" as another essential Godflesh release as far as I'm concerned.

4.5/5

Godflesh - "Pure" (1992)

While I wouldn't ever suggest that industrial metal is one of my favourite genres, there are plenty of artists from within that realm that appeal to me but none of them come close to the sheer class & inventiveness of Birmingham's Godflesh who were at least partially responsible for birthing the genre in the first place. I fell hopelessly in love with Godflesh through their classic 1989 debut album "Streetcleaner" which saw me quickly investigating their seminal 1988 self-titled E.P., a release that soon proved itself to contain some similarly masterful material. I'd subsequently get onboard with 1991's stunning "Slavestate" & very solid "Cold World" E.P.'s as soon as they hit the streets as well as Godflesh's brilliant "Slateman" single in what was an imposing initial run of amazing releases that saw Ben & I thoroughly obsessing over Godflesh during the first half of the 1990's. 1992's "Pure" sophomore album would play a large role in that obsession too after I picked it up on cassette shortly after release.

"Pure" sees band leader Justin Broadrick (Jesu/Fall of Because/Napalm Death) embracing his experimental side by further incorporating elements he'd hinted at in the past to create a record that very much owns its own unique identity. It's calling cards come in the form of its repetitive, draw-out song-structures & abrasive layers of guitar work, both of which would provide the inspiration for the post-metal genre that would be developed in the coming years. The heavily hip hop-inspired drum programming & crushingly heavy basslines of G.C. Green (Fall of Because) are perhaps even further accentuated than on past releases with the atmosphere reflecting the coldness of the magnificent cover artwork beautifully. Broadrick's vocals now alternate between a hardcore-ish bark & a wispy & intentionally pitchy clean delivery that has remained with him throughout his career.

"Pure" is not an immediate release by any stretch of the imagination as it can take some time to open up, even upon return visits. It can be most closely associated with 1991's "Cold World" E.P. given that they were both recorded in the same session. There's not even anything that hints at being a weaker track on the lengthy 80-minute tracklisting with some of Godflesh's strongest material being scattered evenly across the album to reward the patient listener for their committed attention. The heavily dance music-inspired "Mothra", the post-rock infused "Don't Bring Me Flowers" & the enormous 21-minute dark ambient closer "Pure II" are simply devastating & represent my personal highlights while some of the other more significant tracks like "Predominance" & "Monotremata" also tick all of my boxes to qualify for classic status.

While 1989's "Streetcleaner" is perhaps destined to remain the pinnacle of Godflesh's illustrious back catalogue for all eternity (closely followed by the underrated "The Earache Peel Sessions" E.P. for me personally), "Pure" doesn't sit all that far behind in my opinion. In fact, I'd suggest that it slightly surpasses the self-titled & "Slavestate" E.P.'s in my esteem these days, comfortably eclipsing "Cold World" too. It's a marvelous example of what true industrial metal music can achieve. You know... music that simply sounds & feels like it's been created by layering samples of factory sounds over the top of each other to create a dark & brooding atmosphere? Godflesh did this better & far more consistently than anyone else during the first half of the 1990's &, in doing so, etched their name into my soul for a lifetime. When I return to these records every so often I feel a calmness & a warmth inside, even in the coldest & harshest of musical landscapes, & it's this achievement above all else that represents Justin Broadrick's most revering calling card. If you only ever find the time to investigate one industrial metal artist then it simply must be this one.

4.5/5

P.S. This revisit has forced me to reassess my Top Ten Metal Releases of All Time list with "Pure" forcing Emperor's "In The Nightside Eclipse" out & positioning itself at number 98.

Yesterday and today has been a breeze through a few different solid industrial metal albums for me. Here they are, along with a short description for each:

Two years after the release of Corrections House's debut Last City Zero, the group consisting of Scott Kelly (ex-Neurosis), Bruce Lamont (Yakuza), Sanford Parker (ex-Minsk) and Mike IX Williams (Eyehategod) continue pushing their dystopian industrial noise-metal to different levels in Know How to Carry a Whip.

A dark mature release in which industrial and sludge collide alongside pieces of other genres to make something so diverse throughout two 15-minute tracks.

Although Hosannas hasn't reached as much success as the 2003 self-titled album, it shows Killing Joke having more creative freedom recorded in the darkest depth of Hell (the studio).

Gothic industrial metal has never sounded as pleasantly poppy as these tunes from these German representatives of the Eurovision Song Contest 2023.

Also, Blood & Glitter has the industrial metal genre, but it's missing The Sphere clan on the release page. Could you please correct that in the database, Daniel? Thanks.

Also, Blood & Glitter has the industrial metal genre, but it's missing The Sphere clan on the release page. Could you please correct that in the database, Daniel? Thanks.

Fixed Andi.

Thanks, Daniel. Could you please fix the issue for Neurotech's Symphonies II release page as well? https://metal.academy/forum/15/thread/419#topic_18197