Post Self＜Blue Vinyl＞

Post Self is the second Godflesh album since Justin Broadrick and G.C. Green reunited the massively influential group in 2010, and while 2014's A World Lit Only by Fire recaptured the primal spirit of early albums such as the monolithic Streetcleaner, Post Self is more of a continuation of the group's experimental side, as represented by later albums like Us and Them and the remix collection Love and Hate in Dub. The group consciously explores its industrial and post-punk influences here, with abrasive electronics and atmospheric effects taking precedence over metal riffage, although there's plenty of that here as well. This one doesn't overtly reference drum'n'bass and dub as much as the group's late-'90s work did, but it does incorporate crunchy breakbeats and blown-out grooves, to mesmerizing effect. Broadrick's vocals range from the trademark "guttural growls from hell" (as sometime collaborator Mark Kozelek once put it) typical of the band's early sound, to the cleaner but still anguished (and echo-covered) singing of later efforts, or his work as part of the shoegaze-leaning band Jesu. The album's opening title track starts out with an instantly striking riff before a thick, rumbling rhythm section comes in, soon joined by manic screaming. The arrangement is much closer to that of a hip-hop producer than a metal group, with rhythm taking more precedence than anything else. Successive tracks get faster, heavier, and more vicious, with Broadrick barking out staccato grunts over chunky, distorted beats and swarming guitar haze. Songs like "Mirror of Finite Light" are comparatively calmer, with his non-screamed vocals seeming to spiral down the shaft of a well, but there's still a heavy sense of dread and alienation. Most nightmarish is "Be God," a deathly slow dirge with a vast wash of distorted, smeared vocals and an alarmingly sparse guitar ending. Post Self is more moody than direct, and isn't the most hard-hitting, immediate album in the Godflesh catalog, but for anyone who equally appreciates Broadrick's metal and electronic sides, the album is as stunning as one would expect. ~ Paul Simpson