Godflesh - A World Lit Only by Fire (2014)^{Release ID: 260}

Justin Broadrick has restarted the band he's been mostly known for, with an awesome comeback! A World Lit Only by Fire marks a return to their crushing roots, twisted to become more interesting. To recap this band dynamic career leading up to this album, first they made a trio of albums that solidified their freshly invented industrial metal with the apocalyptic Streetcleaner, the monolithic Pure, and the harsh Selfless. Then they brought in a diverse cauldron of drum 'n' bass, IDM, and hip-hop in the mellow Songs of Love and Hate and the overly groovy Us and Them. Finally, Hymns was a more experimental post-metal-ish album that would hint at Broadrick's next project Jesu.

13 years later, Godflesh fans thought there would be a Hymns Part II, but they ended up getting a pleasant surprise. The earlier violent darkness of industrial metal is back in form, continuing what they had 25 years prior in Streetcleaner! Of course it's not really a sellout plan, instead being a return to what they do best, like what Black Sabbath and Carcass did in their comeback albums the previous year. Don't get me wrong, this isn't just recreating Streetcleaner, this is a brand new direction based on that. Some things are different and more modern without making any sacrifices, like for example, crushing 8-string riffing! They now have the axes forged by Meshuggah for djent descendants, and it sounds insane. Of course, it's just dissonant chords and atmospheric riffs that are far away from what would be considered djent.

"New Dark Ages" marks the band's killer return, starting a new dark age for their industrial metal sound. Another worthwhile track is the aggressive march of "Deadend", where the drums and bass (I mean the instruments this time) shine along with the harsh yells. I also like the shuffled rhythm in "Shut Me Down". Next song "Life Giver Life Taker" once again makes sure there's nothing stale or repetitive here, unlike the previous 3 albums.

Obey the demanding power of "Obey"! Rhythms keep stomping through in "Curse Us All". Then sludge crawls through in "Carrion", similar to what the band in late 80s when their industrial sludge sound was fresh and new.

There's some more cleans in "Imperator", a bit surprising for first-time listeners of the album. Adding in something unexpected in very sparse gaps can help keep listeners interested. His decent singing through post-drone is a nice break from the earlier harsh yelling. Oh the audacity while maintaining the atmosphere! "Towers of Emptiness" is probably my favorite track here, just listen to it! "Forgive Our Fathers" has dreamy atmosphere that's never out of place. Justin continues his vocal variation once more, from his usual low growls to the occasional usage of clean singing.

All in all, A World Lit Only by Fire shows Godflesh making a solid comeback; modern production, heavier djent-sounding riffs, and amazing vocals in fun crushing songs with lots of background textures. Despite the bass and drums not getting much of the spotlight, it's still a solid interesting album, like a modern Streetcleaner 2.0. A promising start of the band's new dark age!

Favorites: "New Dark Ages", "Deadend", "Obey", "Imperator", "Towers of Emptiness"