Loud as Giants : " Empty Homes"

 

Justin K Broadrick is the reason I am pressing play. His name also brings to mind a huge span of sonic possibility when you consider the distance from Jesu to Godflesh. Both projects I like in equal measure, however, Godflesh is more song focused, where Jesu has drifted out into it's atmosphere and disappeared at some points in time. Justin is joined by Dirk Serries from Fear Falls Burning. This project leans in a shoe gazing direction giving it much more in common with Jesu. The first song proves to be  pleasing to the ears, but not really breaking any rules, barriers or new ground in terms of post-rock. It drones with melody in mind, but is not really blowing me away , kinds fades into thee background of my morning. 

The fact I am listening to this on Soundcloud, allows me to watch the sound wave graphic to see when things are going to happen, with the second song, this means I could skip ahead another few minutes , but I allow my self to be washed in the white noise. There is an electronic pulse very low in the mix. The remember their distortion pedal for this, giving a more ominous storm cloud feel. One of the components I measure albums by here is by asking the question is this more about the sound or the song? Since turning the right knobs and clicking the right plug-ins can give anyone the right sound. Writing a song takes more talent. I know these guys can write songs since I am a fan of their previous work so I know this is what they are choosing to do. In the last three minutes the drum programming gains a little more industrial heft, though buried in the wave of effects. 

After almost three minutes of swirling drone "Room Three" begins to kick in with it's electronic beat. But then for the next 9 minutes it does not go anywhere from there. It's like a cool idea that was not further developed more than it is a song. The last song "Isolation' is bleaker as the title implies. There are more layers that emerge, but it is also more of a drone than not. I will give this album a 7, as it feels good and is easy background music, but not in the way of songs as it takes you somewhere, but does not go anywhere from that point. 

Great Falls : "A Sense of Rest"

Here is the  last album of 2018 I am reviewing. These guys are former members of Kiss it Goodbye and Jesu, so despite their past work things are not as experimental as you might think. Sometimes the simplest description is the best. While p/r companies and record labels might like to dress things up with whatever adjectives fit the current bang wagons this band out of Seattle is a dark hard core band. They do have metallic Converge like leanings if we are thinking about "Jane Doe " era. Angular jerking of riffs that are filled with resent. "Not For Sale Bodies" has a more oppressive pound to it's deliberate lumber. It also begins to introduce more atmosphere. "

Kettle Logic" blows by in an angry blur and it's not until "We Speak in Lower Case" that things begin to get interesting as there is a cleaner guitar tone and the vocals are not as screamed. Not sung, but heading in that direction. This song proves to be the most dynamic so far . Not many hard core bands have almost 15 minute songs , but they make the most of it."Thousands Every Hour" does have the driving bass and the noise around it's rough edges that brings to mind the Amp Rep bands, but they are still more hard core than not. They continue down a smoother shadowy brand of hard core balancing out the blitz of bombast with atmosphere. It is when they are in this zone that they are most effective and find a sound they can call their own. "I Go to Glory" pretty much just works off all the elements that have been in place while adding a little more of a hard core punch here and there.

 "Scratched Off the Canvas" has a heavier almost sludge like feel to it. It might be the most metallic song on the album. The vocals are more on the side of a punk shout than scream. There is still an angular cadence to what they do and squealing feedback which has become their trademark. This is kinda anti climatic as there is a great deal of build and not much in the way of pay off. Overall this album is pretty good, I like the bleak mood it creates. I'll give this an 8.5 , Corpseflower Records is releasing this in the US.

Godflesh : "Post Self"

Justin Broadrick's flag-ship project has been many things over the years some heavier than other's . Some incarnations paved the way for Jesu more clearly.The opening track with please fans of the earlier incarnation as it is heavier. The vocals have a snarl to them. It carries more of a drone while "Parasite" that follows has more of a groove and militant barked growl.The first to songs moved with more of a metallic stomp, leaving "No Body" as the first song to strike me as industrial. It's also the first song that caused the involuntary head bob. The vocals are gruff but muted under the beat. This is the best of the three opening tracks it blends atmosphere and machine driven heaviness.

There are some really cool effects on the chant of the vocals on "Mirror of Finite Light". This places the song closer to Jesu.  Then there is the throb of a more apocalyptic darkness on "Be God".  The atmosphere gets almost shoe gaze like going into "the Cyclic End". The vocals are more sung, there is a lower moan to them so they are more punk than how he normally sings. It is very dark, though more of drone that something you can see yourself jamming out to on the way to get beer. This album does drone more than his work, though it is a few shades darker so I can deal with that compromise. The title track find the vocals sitting back and dissonant slabs of guitar creating the pounding pulse.I can appreciate the more experimental touches but think this band works best when driven by beats that sound like a giant robot stomping through a city. The effects on the vocal on "Mortality Sorrow" only further this comparison. Thicker layers of synths coat this song.

There are some great hefty bass tones on this album. One of them is the back bone to "In Your Shadow". The overall production on this album is great. Very created and spacious, yet able to crush you when things need to retract and get more in your face. The vocals come in under blanket of effects to sound more like another instrument. The album closes with the aptly titled "the Infinite End". This one is thicker on the atmospheric with the vocals buried under the swirl of drifting sound. Another song to fly away to on your bed after popping some pills , but not for being out in the world, unless you are driving around stoned as a bat. I'll around this one up to a 9.5, it might not be their best album , but it's a damn good one.

Jesu / Sun Kil Moon

I love when odd things collide, like Disco era Kiss, New-Wave Alice Cooper, hair metal Celtic Frost and Ryan Adams covering Taylor Swift, so it should come as no surprise that I might be into Justin Broadrick of Godflesh fame being in collision with the slow core folk of Sun Kil Moon. The bi-polar sometimes highly emotive yet low mumbled  vocals of former Red House Painter's front man Mark Kozelek.  I can hear this album appealing more to Godflesh/Jesu fans perhaps more than Sun Kil Moon devotees. Broadrik lays down the back drop for Kozelek's narrative style that ranges from sometimes highly emotive rants to low key mumbled musings. If some of the backing vocals sounds familar that's because Isaac Brock and Wil Oldham contribute them. They are not the only guests as in the album's third act the members of Low contribute vocals to the previously released song 'Exodus" about the death of Nick Cave's son.

The album adheres to my philosophy that a great artist is going to be a great artist no matter what stage you put them upon. Meaning Mick Jagger is going to be Mick Jagger no matter if you put the Rolling Stones behind him or Burzum. Here both artists are both doing what they do best, with Kozelek adapting the most as his vocal lines tend to be spat out at somewhat more brisker pace than if left to his own devices. Broadrick indulges his more Pale Sketcher side with the electronics of "Last Night I Rocked the Room Like Elvis and Then Had Them Laughing Like Richard Pryor". It's in the final minutes of this song that Kozelek reads a letter from a fan from Singapore. The first song that is decidedly more in Mark's wheel house is "Fragile" which is an ode Yes bass player Chris Squire. It's a little cloudy as Broadrick's role in this song is.

On "Father's Day " the album returns to Broadrick's more electronic side as he lays down a backing track that might remind you of some of Nine Inch Nails more ambient moments. The guitar is coated in delay and trickles behind the programmed drums. For the bulk of the album the vocals are always way up front in the mix. The familiar down tuned guitar tone crunching into "Sally". The more rambling spoken word approach to the verse begins to feel a little redundant at this point and the chorus flows better as he actually sings. The more relaxed melody of "America's Most Wanted Mark Kozelek" find his running down the list of feeling and experiences he had over the last few days before stepping into the vocal booth. He also reads another fan letter on this song, which now must have become a thing for him. It's an ego booster and takes the pressure off having to constantly come up with snappy lyrics.

The album ends with the 14 minute "Beautiful You" which has an opaque ambiance that Kozelek lays more of a spoken word over it where he recalls wading into the ocean and having his balls frozen. Overall I think this is a success, I'm not sure that some of the longer songs where Marks is rambling about what ever he observed that day are going to make it onto the iPod and the album has more steam in it's first half, but I'll still round it up to a 9 as when it works it's strangely stellar.



the album can be streamed via the link below http://www.sunkilmoon.com/jesuskm.html

Godflesh: Decline & Fall ep

Eps seems like a waste to me. But music is being consumed differently these days and if it is going to be stolen anyways, why not just have it taken four songs at a time I suppose. Sometimes you just have to take it anyway you can get it, this is after all new Godflesh, something I didn't think was ever going to happen. I am not sure why I put off giving this a shot for so long, but here it is.

"Ringer" opens things up on a very metal vibe. Almost like Front Line Assembly in the way the very stiff guitars drone on. Justin's vocals of course retain the feel of Godflesh and have a lazy punk sneer to them, while as dead pan as anything we have heard previous from him, and less emotive than Jesu. I think I expect more experimental elements to be in place , but it does fall in line with the projects body of work. The production is a little dry, though everything gets whole lot cooler in the pound of the final minute.

Most bands never got the industrial metal thing right. They often went to Fear Factory with it and reduced it to mall metal. Pitchshifter is a example of this , or at least how I remember Pitchshifter. The tone drops lower on the mechanical thump and pound of "Dogbite" . but Justin continues to school all the mall metallers and sludge hipsters who tried to jump in on this sort of thing. His vocals go into the throatier bellow, not unlike Ministry or Helmets heavier moments. This does carry the taunt syncopation, Helmet used to, but is more like a sci fi robot in Godzilla sized armor trudges through a post apocalyptic wasteland.
"Play with Fire" allows the bass to gurgle in hyper space , while the guitar bends around the throb of the riff, but also finds a melodic sense to it all . The title track is much more up in your face with the beatdown. The almost hardcore half time drop might seem neanderthal like when you forget after years of Jesu that Justin ever had this much testosterone to contend with. This gets the job done and I can live with this as acceptable Godflesh, I don't however feel it is fair to rate this , though if I had to it would be around a 9 or so, but since it's only four songs it doesn't develop which is the nature of an ep , but for the most part these songs stand up well on their own two metallic feet.