Godflesh : "Purge"

Since the band's 2014 return  Godflesh has released really dense and dark album that measured up against the current state of heavy music. This time around there is the embrace of their 90s past , with almost old school hip hop beat kicking off the opening track They drone of this groove while barking out the lyrics with chanted authority. If you told me this was an unreleased track from "Selfless" I would be inclined to believe you. "Land Lord" has more sonic layers but plays it pretty safe with in the bounds of what you expect from these guys. It is a little more riff driven. There is a staccato hammering to "Army of Non". This represents everything that 90s industrial metal was before nu-metal elements begin to infiltrate it. 

Thankfully "Lazurus Leper" backs off of the aggressive stomp of the first three songs or the album would have taken on too uniform of a tone. The vocals are less of an active participant in this , but at least it breaks the formula they were locked in. I prefer the direction they go in with "Permission" that reminds you how influenced they were by Swans and Sonic Youth in the formative years. There is a hypnotic drone that keeps your attention in the way the instruments swirl around it. The more barked vocals serve as a fitting counterpoint, to wake you up and keep you grounded. 

The more ambient mood that was fully realized in Jesu , returns to Justin's mesmerizing use of such sung vocals on "the Father" which might not be the most interesting song so far, but I am glad they are changing the sonic colors here. "Mythology of Self" finds them grinding back into a heavier more apocalyptic place. The vocals com in more guttural. There us a droning hesitance for the song to really kick in and works off this tension. The song bathes in it's own ambiance. Mainstream metal audience would be too tempted to wait around for the pay off here. Such pay off does not until the final song, which is even bleaker. It's  my favorite song on the album due to how dark it is. He returns to sung vocals, that create an eerie juxtaposition against the brooding pulsations. If I am going to be honest with you, had this album had come after "Hymns' it would feel like just another Godflesh album, for that reason I am going to round this down to a 9, making it still much better that what most mere mortals can achieve.