Godflesh

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The band performed their reunion show at Hellfest, which took place on June 18th, 2010 in Clisson, France.

Godflesh is highly regarded as one of the pioneers of industrial metal along with Ministry; they took industrial to the next level with their fuse of heavy guitars with slow drum machine rhythms and effects. Godflesh's influences include metal bands Black Sabbath and Celtic Frost, post-punk acts Killing Joke and Crass, and various industrial bands such as Swans, Throbbing Gristle and Whitehouse. Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen was another distinct influence; many of Godflesh's song and album titles, as well as some lyrics, were borrowed from him.

Contrary to popular belief, Godflesh isn't grindcore or death metal; they play an experimental form of industrial metal. Throughout their career, their sound has constantly evolved, incorporating various influences from electronic music, dub, hip hop, and shoegaze in terms of sound on different releases.

Their influence reached out beyond industrial metal, influencing many extreme and sludge/post-metal acts. They've been known to inspire countless bands such as Fear Factory, Pelican, Isis, Neurosis, Faith No More, Pitchshifter and Korn.

Many of Godflesh's contemporaries mimicked their style; these include Pitchshifter, Dead World, Sonic Violence, Red Harvest and Scorn, last of which featured Broadrick on guitar before their ambient music period.

Justin Broadrick formed this group after walking out of Napalm Death and having stints in other bands such as Fall of Because. He formed the band with Ben "GC" Green, a partnership that is seen as being the definitive essence of Godflesh. Justin saw this project as a "renaming" of the last band Fall of Because (changing from that name to Godflesh).

The meaning of the name Godflesh as explained by Justin: "I heard someone once say that 'music is the voice of God.' In that sense, it's something that can get inside of you and move you spiritually on a communication level. The word God conjures something immense and inconceivable. The 'flesh' part is what affects you on a physical level. Our music is loud and destructive. Like Godflesh is the American Indian term for peyote, but that really is kind of a coincidence. It's a coincidence that suits me just fine though."

Most of Godflesh's cover artwork comes from movie stills, freeze frames, and magazine artwork. Check their official website for descriptions and explanations behind the covers (go to the "artwork" section.)

Justin Broadrick's newest project is Jesu, named after the last song on the band's album 'Hymns'. Other than this, Justin has been involved in many other projects, most largely encompassing techno, dub, and electronica - elements of which were always present in Godflesh - such as Curse Of The Golden Vampire.

Justin Broadrick disbanded Godflesh in early 2002 after coming to the conclusion that the band just wasn't itself without his founding partner, Ben 'GC' Green. Ben left the group due to conflicting differences.

Kirk Hammett of Metallica fame has been a huge fan of Godflesh for a long time. He has described the band as "the heaviest band in existence." Though, both parties have had controversies. Danzig and Faith No More both once asked Justin to join their band full time.