[15th June, 2023] - New LP, tour, releases, age...
[15th June, 2023] - New LP, tour, releases, age...
Since the last time I updated this front page 10 months ago, Justin has released about a dozen new items (detailed below). Crumbling Flesh exists, as I’ve said through the years, as a catalogue of incredibly-old information. That’s quite all right with me. But I do still enjoy keeping things up-to-date.
The biggest news of late isn’t yet another Final or JK Flesh album, it is the return of Godflesh, whose ninth LP was issued a week ago. It’s the third since reforming 13 years ago and it once again features Justin and Ben and their beloved machines. I’ll admit that most newer material hasn’t stuck with me. In fact, I find myself visiting recent Jesu or JKF far more. (by recent, I mean the last 15 years of music).
Purge, the band’s first record in six years, sits differently with me. While the first single, Nero certainly has Pure vibes, I find the back half of the record far more aligned with my ’Flesh tastes. Permission hearkens to the band’s cover of Straight To Your Heart, The Father shows the band veering into several eras of familiar territory and the album’s closers giving a tinge of Man/Woman crushingness by Jesu.
Reception seems as varied as the record itself, and as an old forum member aptly put it, many times it depends on the angle that got you into the band in the first place. I arrived via the avenue of metal. The second half is for me.
So, while this splash page isn’t updated frequently, background discography updates are always happening. Discogs has a far-more convenient layout and the Justin Broadrick Fanblog is a more consistent source of news, curiosities and information. Finally, the Avalanchers Facebook Group is the community hub for discussion. =old people like me - and quite possibly you too.
Maybe I’ll write more come October when the site turns 28.
Here are the newest discography updates:
Some thoughts:
I’ve always preferred the ambient side of Final, so neither of the Oblivion releases nor the Exit Electronics are particularly listenable to mine ears. Both JK Flesh records are quite good as is the Loud As Giants collaboration with Dirk Serries. Four, lengthy, moody pieces, I particularly like this record. The Pale Sketcher is...very unlike JKB. And that's fine by me. For casual listening, I like it!
Oh, and in addition to all of those discography entries, the Labels Discographies has been brought up to date. Avalanche Recordings has catalogue entries all the way up to AREC071, however, we've never discovered what AREC044 and AREC050 were - neither has ever been issued. Oh...and the side-project discographies launchpage has been entirely revamped with a layout I've been tinkering with for a decade.
Summer vacation has just arrived for me, now a teacher with 14 years experience (across two states and three countries). If you're planning on seeing Godflesh live this summer, I'll likely be at the Baltimore show in September.
[14th August, 2022] - Discography updates
The usual discography updates have been done over the past few months. New stuff from JK Flesh much earlier in the year alongside a pair of Final releases. Justin just issued a side-project release of JK Flesh called Exit Electronics. This is a pay-as-you-like digital-only recording, so a new discography was issued for that and the Labels Discographies were also brought up-to-date. I haven't put it up yet, but a new album for the discontinued Pale Sketecher project is forthcoming through the GIVE/TAKE label. A curious preview site is available for the album due later this year. Vinyl pre-orders are up; the album is slated to be called Golden Skin. Hope all is well in your world!
[17th January, 2022] - Follow-Up
Just a quick follow-up to 2022's plans. First, Justin mentioned on the Facebook that he won't be touring America in 2022 under the guise of any project. Just not going to risk it (covid, visas, etc). However, "the plan now for the US is mid 2023, for Jesu, Godflesh and JK Flesh"!
Second, a third Blood Of Heroes LP is coming! The final part of the trilogy is all-but-complete with the collaboration of Burton C. Bell, formerly of Fear Factory! He's got to lay down some more tracks and then it's time to mix!
Plus the usual discography updates continually being done in the background. Some upgrades/cleaning up coming as well - hope you don't even notice them.
[13th January, 2022] - Busy 2022
Justin will be continuing with a prolific 2022. After a pair of digital-only Final Releases, he's made a Facebook post with the following future plans:
That's some impressive news! Techno Animal's Re-Entry and Brotherhood Of The Bomb are set to be first, but with vinyl pressing plants quite busy, any aforementioned vinyl releases are hostage to their timelines.
In addition, after last year's Monrella / JK Flesh split EP, another Mick Harris/JKB collaboration appears to be in the works under the resurrected Scorn moniker. Shane Embury may also appear on this release.
[4th November, 2021] - Twenty Six
It's been yet another year and I've gone through yet another massive life change. This time was a return to America from Italy. It was a rough change, harder than going Eastward, and things haven't quite settled down. In the past year, I've updated numerous discographies: from JK Flesh releases to new Godflesh material to keeping the record labels pages updated to Tech Level 2 EPs to a new Jesu LP in seven years. All were done quietly, but I suppose if I'm going to keep these pages going, I should at least give love to the very thing that spawned its birth in the first place: complete discographies!!!
Unfortunately, I've been finding that some decrepit, old portions of the site have been having issues: most notably, broken images. I haven't a clue what's going on, but I'll try to fix these in a similar, behind-the-scenes fashion. I figured maintaining a site this old should be easy!!!
And yup, that means we've just passed another birthday. Crumbling Flesh turned 26 years old last month. I am now 45 years old and quite grey (beard only, hair still looks good!) That age gets me thinking about having a contingency plan for this site for the day when...you know...I'm no longer around to maintain it. I'd hate to think a quarter-century of work would just be relegated to Archive.org searches. But that's too gloomy a thought. Happy birthday.
[26th September, 2020] - New Releases
Quick update today - There's a new Jesu LP forthcoming called Terminus. This is the first LP in quite a while. Just released this month is a half-harsh, half-mellow new Final EP called You Couldn't Mean Any Less.
Also interesting is a 20-minute, textural improv performance from 2015 posted over to the YouTube. It's preceded by a 5-minute interview. This is from the Tectonics Festival in Glasgow.
The final share of the day is a rare recording of Sweet Tooth from back in 1990. This is just amazing and I'm so glad someone uploaded this. This 6-track, 34-minute, restored & remastered live recording can be found on YouTube as well and is well worth it. Hard to believe that was 30 years ago. Enjoy these updates!
[6th July, 2020] - Quarantine / Discographies Always Being Updated
In early March, Italy locked down utterly. It was a strange time, no more for Italy than most of the world. However, while I genuinely dislike living here - down to the deepest core of my heart - the way this country handled the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic is nothing short of remarkable. In the end, though, while my family and I were safe and secure and fortunate beyond words, it was easy to slip into a funk - perhaps even a tinge of depression.
While this country's numbers improve and others do not (*coughAmericacough*), remaining positive is paramount to success. And as Justin continues his prolific ways, I find some minor solace and sense of meaning updating discographies, much like I've done since the autumn of 1995 - an absurd 25 years ago. It's a simple pleasure to keep this site updated and ad-free for two-and-a-half decades. Shit, that is crazy to utter.
Regardless of sentimentality, I've always liked to think of this space as a haven for my own personality, trite though in my commentary about it. Ultimately, however, 25 years has earned me some sense of nostalgia.
So, these past few months I've updated the discographies of JK Flesh, Final and some new Jesu. Tech Level 2's resurrection has been noted as has Pale Sketcher's demise. Other sections look exactly the same asa they did in the year 2000 - for better or worse. While this front pages is just a glorified discography update, I'll be back around October to proclaim 25 complete years of Crumbling Flesh. God DAMN that's a long time! And for those of you who have been around for a good chunk of that time??? You're fucking old too.
[22nd August, 2019] - JK Flesh - Zonal - Anniversary
Updating discographies as necessary, both new and old. The main entries are new releases by JK Flesh, the first Final release in three years and, amazingly, Zonal, a project I never thought we'd ever hear from again.
On the personal front, my next big move is mostly done. We left Sweden, a place I could have lived in forever, and arrived in Italy. We'll be here for two or three years and while we've been gone for almost two months, we're not yet in our permanent housing. I feel a bit lost due to the upheaval and, honestly, so far...Not in love with it here. We were really smitten with Scandinavia and it's hard not comparing everything to it.
However, the purpose of writing this is to reminisce about August of 1999. It was 20 years ago this month that I settled on this archaic design and launched Godflesh.com. Of course, the site was already four years old at that point - starting in October of 1995 and bouncing between several domains before settling down. While it's not a tremendous birthday, two decades is nothing to sneeze at and the site has never had an ad. As I've said through the years, I have no intent on pulling the plug on the whole endeavor. I'll check back in October of 2020 for the 25th anniversary.
[21st April, 2019] - A little while later...
Another long-delayed posting. I've tinkered with discographies all over the place over the past year. The Record Labels discographies reflect many of the new albums as well as fixes to old entries. Jesu and JK Flesh both got some overdue love, with the latter's newest records all being added. Remixes are another beast entirely, that shit seems impossible to keep up on.
One of the most interesting new additions is actually something quite old. It's been revealed that Hydrus, an old project attributed to DJ The Neck back in the Lo Fibre days, was actually Justin. One of my favorite tracks from JKB's short-lived label was actually Justin all along! Of course, a new discography has been added, but it doesn't end there! We've always known that AKA was credited to our old friend Paul Neville and DJ The Neck as well making this yet another JKB project unearthed after two decades!!! In case you thought might be enough for ancient reveals, the legendary Lo Fibre Companion also contained another project by a band called Fruitkake. Only one song was ever issued and it's now known that this was just another JKB/Ben Green moniker from those glorioius late-1990s. So...three 'new' projects added to the silly list.
Justin proves to be just as prolific as ever, and I hope you're keeping up on his efforts better than this site proves to. His JK Flesh project is the most active, so much so that I tossed a link to the discography on the left. Sadly, both Jesu and Final have been awfully quiet.
In life news, I have another big change coming shortly. Living in Göteborg, Sweden has been phenomenal and I simply love this country. However, we always knew our stay would be brief. Unfortunately, instead of a six-year stay as intended, we're being shipped elsewhere after fewer than three. Our newest adventure will drop us off in Naples, Italy this summer. Things may not get settled for a few months, which means I'll miss the 20th anniversary of the launch of Godflesh.com! Not really a huge deal, but it was in August of 1999 when this design was settled and the domain became mine. Wow.
Enough for today. It may be quiet on the front page, but know that updates are still happening behind the scenes and the community is as busy as ever. Enjoy your 2019!
[25th November, 2017] - It's been a little while...
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[16th August, 2015] - Things Picking Up?
[7th October, 2014] - Master Song List I'm on harvest break now, a several-week span of no school due to the potato harvest. It was weird when I first moved here, now I kind of love it. Anyways, anniversary and all, here's an annual update to the Master Song List. Last year we sat firmly at 922, and I now count 964. I removed half of Head Of David's White Elephant tracks. I never realized Justin only played drums on half that record. This year I tossed on all those Jesu ST alternate mixes and the few releases that came out. As an obvious long-time collector, the gaps in that collection are only growing as the years go on. Digital collections help, clearly, but I noticed some glaring absences while going through that list. Oh, I employed the help of Discogs for some missing track times too. Enjoy!
[6th October, 2014] - Godflesh LP!
[30th September, 2014] - It's Almost Time
[6th August, 2014] - Godflesh LP!!!
[16th April, 2014] - Godflesh EP!!!
The first U.S. tour by Godflesh since the autumn of 1996 begins in a few short days. Were I still back at my old stomping grounds in NY, I'd be front and center at Irving Plaza a week from tonight. I am not, however, even remotely close to any show (Boston is 350 miles away). And while that distance is certainly doable, my current conditions are going to prevent me from seeing the band and for this reason I've been awfully quiet. I am rather envious of the rest of you all. This site has become a placeholder in many regards; its archives a great representation of the way the web was in the late 1990s. For those going, wanting to go, or just wanting to keep up with things, you'll want to check out Avalanchers for the latest chatter, meetups and the like. If anyone would like me to host audio, video, reviews or such items, simply email me. Have a great time all those who are seeing the legends play again or for the first time. It has been 18 years after all since Justin and Ben have graced these shores as a duo. Long live the new flesh!!!
[2nd November, 2013] - Godflesh Discographies Revamped In addition, I was missing a lot of information on re-releases and the like. So, what you'll find now is a very detailed, concise and neat set of discographies covering all major Godflesh releases. I'm proud of how it all turned out and hopefully you'll find it useful and easy to navigate. As we wait for A World Lit Only By Fire sometime in 2014, I'm thrilled to have completed a redesign.  Everything has been triple checked but there could always be mistakes. If you find any, let me know. Otherwise, take a peek at the new and Complete Godflesh Discographies!
[2nd November, 2013] - New Pale Sketcher!
After the Visa issues and cancallation of the U.S. tour, Godflesh has quickly remedied the situation by re-scheduling the whole lot.
10 Apr: New York, NY - Irving Plaza
[12th October, 2013] - Godflesh Tour Postponed
[9th October, 2013] - 18 Years Old!
[6th October, 2013] - Jesu Discography Oh...and one other thing: Crumbling Flesh turns 18 in three short days. EIGHTEEN! I won't go on a nostalgia trip this year (just scroll down to see some of my prior years' entries.) However, I love the feeling I get from editing even now, almost two decades later. The aforementioned discography update brought me great joy which means something is still right. I won't be seeing Godflesh on this tour (don't even want to think about it...) but I hope all of you out there who are enjoy your experience. Drop me a line and let me know how it went. I sincerely hope it fucking rocks! Thanks for 18 years.
[27th September, 2013] - Jesu / Final / WSD
[22nd September, 2013] - F.O.D.!!!!!
[19th August, 2013] - Jesu: Homesick
[16th August, 2013] - Godflesh: F.O.D. Cover In fact, if you're not familiar with the song from Slaughter's 1986 effort Strappado, check it out on YouTube. It is a pretty perfect song for Godflesh to play IMO. I don't know if JKB has announced if there's a live drummer on the new incarnation of the band, but I certainly hope not. I supppose I'm finally getting excited about the new Godflesh. :)
[10th August, 2013] - Remixes
Since the site's inception almost 18 years ago, I've gone through some ups and downs. The site flourishes during the former, suffers during the latter, and always comes out somewhat healthy. To keep this brief (a promise I often make, and never stick to), the rebirth of Godflesh truly left me at a strange place and sadly, indifference was my response. When the band died a decade+ ago, it felt fitting to me. I'd preferred the side proejcts over the main inspiration for this site. And I questioned the motivation for Godflesh 2.0. However, in some interview a few months back, Justin's voice spoke directly to me, not unlike how his music has spoken to many of us over the last 25 years. His words suggested, "I'm going to do what I want and I don't care what you say." Of course, he wasn't as abrasive. He spoke that he's doing what he's doing because it feels right to him. It was genuine and it was honest. I write all this because I've been stuck. I wrote a review for the re-issue of Hymns and the entire lot got lost. For a short while, I felt nostalgia. But, I'd listened to Burning Bridges Will Light Your Way and the newest The Blood Of Heroes and neither inspired me. I never got the Prurient split ($$$). I didn't like Ascension or Longmeadow at all. It's harder to keep up with so many vinyl releases, Daymare bonus discs (oh how I love those!), etc. OK, enough bitching...what's the point? Well, I guess I looked at JKB, the Godflesh machine, and all this vinyl collecting as having changed but it's quite the same as it always has been. How different is that from 1997? It's me that's changing and that's fucking scary. 37 w/ four kids? No time to update CF? No excitement over a new Jesu disc? So, my fire has died a little bit and it's embarassing. And with each successive news bit I don't post, I feel more and more embarassed and buried. I wish I had more inspiring words for you all, but they elude me now as does the passion to write them. Maybe I need some help on this site...or a better method of updating this aging structure. For now, I'll post some news bits; these are old updates for most of you. As for the rest; I'll figure something out. A World Lit Only By Fire - the tentative title for Godflesh LP #7 due whenever it's done. (= don't count on any date as final!) Godflesh U.S. Tour
18 Oct: Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts Streetcleaner Live @ Roadburn 2011 2xLP - Sold Out, of course, ages ago. A few months back I tinkered with reformatting the discographies here...Quite the endeavor that would be. JKB Fan Blog <-- Awesome. Go here. Frequently. Everyday I Get Closer To The Light From Which I Came - new Jesu LP due the 23rd of September. (Teaser Ad here) New Pale Sketcher single available for free/pay whatever
you'd like. The label is Heart Ache which means the post-GF project named for a GF song whose spin-off project
(Pale Sketcher named after Always go to Avalanchers. The folks there know their stuff and are always up-to-date on everything.
p.s. - I still love this shit. It's the ebb and flow of life, I suppose. Listening to that Pale Sketcher soothed my struggling soul. It reminded me of nearly two decades of CF. The site may be in a state of decay, but it's not going anywhere, in case I was vague about my despair.
[3rd March, 2013] - Discography Updates
First off is the JK Flesh / Prurient split. The Daymare
version has come out and we now know the bonus tracks. There are three; two are credited to JKB.
Worship Is The Cleansing Of Imagination is the full title.
I got a copy of Jesu's Christmas just after the last update and never wrote about it.
The discography is updated with the new information (and track times for Duchess/Veiled). I
quite like this release and love the new JK Flesh remix. The packaging of the CD is really rather nice, a glossy inlay including
lyrics!
There have been a pair of tracks available for donation (or free) over at Bandcamp
for a while. There are exclusive new tracks from White Static Demon and
Final. The former is the usual destructive noise you'd expect from the project. The
latter is an excellent new track that is just about as polarizing from WSD as you can get. It's great. You can get both, as well as
music from another 18 artists, at the Ominous
Silence Compilation 2012 Bandcamp page.
I was delighted to hear this new Final track. I found that last year was a weak year for
music in general. I liked JKB's Posthuman, but I was disappointed with
Blood Of Heroes' The Waking Nightmare,
Council Estate Electronics' Longmeadow and
Final's Burning Bridges Will Light Your Way, and the
Jesu 7". I'd say it was one of the more disappointing years in recent memory. Right...so, my point was...I
like the new Final track.
On a similar note, I also got my hands on the re-issue of Hymns. I'm in the process of really giving it the love it deserves and will be
writing a review on the whole lot. The short, short version: the bass is a bit too loud IMO, but the entire packaging is excellent. And it has lyrics!
OK. More when I'm done writing it all.
You may have read that Hydra Head
Records is folding and it is indeed the sad truth. The very prolific label has provided us with
a number of excellent JKB and non-JKB related releases over the past 17 years. In fact, Aaron Turner
started the label around the same time that Crumbling Flesh started and I'm rather sad to see
the label go. You can buy some interesting items from their collection (a bunch of vinyl, some test
pressings, gear and an office spree) or just donate if you would like. It appears the label will be
issuing Conqueror on double vinyl at some point next year.
Justin is continuing with the JK Flesh for its second release of 2012.
Due the 11th of this month, Worship Is The Cleansing Of Imagination
also on Hydra Head. This is a
split 12" with Prurient and features three new JK Flesh tracks. You can listen to
the full version of one track from each artist over at
Brooklyn Vegan. Titled
The JKB track, Fear of Fear is a powerful track not far removed from JK Flesh's debut earlier
this year. The split will come out on clear, grey and black vinyl, I'm unsure of the numbers. You can
pre-order
it here or grab
a t-shirt for about the same price. Oh, rumor has it this will come out on
Daymare Recordings next year and
you know what that means...bonus tracks!
Bridging the two aforementioned projects, Robotic
Empire has re-issued Jesu's Christmas EP from 2010 on
two formats. Sadly, the vinyl
re-issue on ice-blue vinyl has already sold out. Limited to 500 and featuring a high-gloss cover, this
is not available even though it's not yet been released. Set to ship during the second week of December,
all pre-orders are gone. There are still CD
versions available for a mere $8. Also limited to 500, these will likely go quickly. By itself, this
release isn't so special, but James Plotkin has remastered the three-track EP and Justin has made
yet another remix under the JK Flesh name. This release now has the Jesu track
remixed by Pale Sketcher, Final and
JK Flesh. Robotic
Empire also has mentioned they have plans for another JKB-related project due next year.
Finally, it seems we'll finally get that Hymns re-issue early next year.
Godflesh's last LP will get the remaster treatment and will also feature the
six demo tracks remixed as well as the track If I Could Only Be What You Want. This track was only
available on the Loud Music For Loud People compilation and in looking through the site, I guess I
never put that in the discographies. Bad. :( However, now you can get it along with this ultimate
Hymns package! Oh, this also means I'll have to take down those Demo FLAC
files once this become available. If you're interested in getting those (not remixed) demo tracks,
grab them soon.
Enough updates? Have a great holiday season all!!!
[19th October, 2012] - 17 Years!!! Several Releases
So, my annual, "Ahhh," moment is now over and it's time to get to business. I entirely missed a new JKB release from this past summer but
more importantly there is a new Final release! It's the first new material in almost two years and as I stream the
tracks (whilst downloading FLACs)(stupid rhyme), I'm enjoying it. It was just my last update that I complained about not having new Final.
This one is called Burning Bridges Will Light Your Way and the five tracks clock in at just under an hour.
Digital-only sadly, I'll take what I can get, but I do miss sexy jewel cases and professionally-printed discs. No complaints, because this material
is classic Final - droning, moody, powerful...exactly what I love by this project. Grab it for $7 in a variety of formats (FLAC is the only
real option IMO) over at the Final Bandcamp page.
Money well spent!
Back to the other release, I don't know how I missed this, but Justin issued a new Council Estate Electronics
LP earlier this year. I updated the discography months ago, and haven't purchased it yet (Final took precedence). This one is called
Longmeadow and its two tracks total over an hour's worth of music. I particularly liked the debut by
this project and while you can stream this from the site as well, I really have to plunk down the $7, download it and burn it. This feels vast,
as each track is roughly 30-minutes long. Diarmiud Dalton helps out on this release and like the album above you can (should/MUST) purchase it for
the meager total of $7 at the
CEE Bandcamp page. That's $14 for two full-length
releases. I can't complain about that, even if I don't get my sexy jewel cases. heh.
Next up is a new Blood Of Heroes record. The Waking Nightmare
is the second LP from this spectacular project. Until I hear more, I'm going to be utterly excited. I never heard the
remix EP but look forward to the impending early-December release window.
Finally, the new Jesu 7" has been issued in limited quantities. The two-song 7" features a cover of
The Stranglers' Duchess and a new, original Jesu track. A digital release is set for spring of 2013.
There are many remixes and smaller things a'coming. The White Static Demon is still MIA and there appears to be another
JK Flesh release coming, this time a split album. I'll post stuff whenever I get it.
Thanks for 17 years of support.
[5th May, 2012] - Updates In fact, I was so out of it, I didn't have the Japanese tracks for Ascension
on there. Oh well. In any event, most of the updates are things you'll never have noticed, but I wanted you to know the site is
still getting regular love, even after the longest drought in CF's history.
Speaking of Jesu, we'll be getting some new material this autumn.
Matador Records' 7" subscription series
Singles Going Home Alone will
have a Jesu release coming in September. It'll be the fifth entry into the series but there's no word on specifics yet. Justin
has also mentioned that he has a pair of longer songs recorded, but no details about the hopeful release so far.
The new White Static Demon should be right around the corner. It'll be coming out on the
Scottish label At War With False Noise but should've been
released by now.
There are several other releases on the horizon, but nothing quite as solid as those two. I have to admit, I'm a bit
antsy without any new Final or Jesu or even
Pale Sketcher. The latter should have several new things a'coming,
but again...we're waiting on exact dates and labels. We were spoiled for a while in there. So much to listen to.
[13th April, 2012] - JKFlesh Mini-Review I think I was expecting to be crushed. I was not. Perhaps I looked for the sequel to beautiful and haunting
Skinner's Black Laboratories tracks. This is nothing like that at all either. As the first tracks
passed, I was greeted with so many familiar sounds. The noise-laden guitars from Grey Machine. Loud interludes a la
early/mid-Techno Animal. D&B from the highly-prolific late-90s. There's clearly Godflesh in here. But none of it
sounds generic or redundant.
What we have here is pure Justin Broadrick and any fan of his varied catalog should recognize this instantly. The
mostly-instrumental record truly covers his sprawling career by combining so many familiar sounds. When his voice is used, it is
precisely what you expected it to be.
As mentioned earlier, it is not a crushing album; I think Justin is saving that for the impending Godflesh LP. It is also
not very melodic, as we have that already in some Final material and a lot of what Jesu has turned out to be. There are
some small but very unique portions of this album that expand on what Justin can do, but let's face it, no one ever really thought
there was a barrier. Any fan who stuck around through the Streetcleaner - Slavestate - Pure - Selfless years knows better.
And however varied I'm making this sound, Posthuman is indeed one vision, one LP. It sounds so much like what you know but
yet modern and new. It is not Justin's best work, but then again, very few of us can agree on even a top-five list anyway.
This is a heavy record. It is noisy and it is powerful. It is dark and moody. Essentially it is why I gained interest in
JKB more than 20 years ago and why I continue still. There's no reason to explain more as your opinion of it will differ greatly from
my words here. Just know that through his countless side projects, this is the first that doesn't feel like a side project. Barring
the elements missing (saved for other projects), it's just JKB. Just how we all like it.
I'd like to thank the folks over at 3by3 and to
Lauren Barley for getting me a copy of this record so soon. I suggest you get this one. Again, it's not Godflesh. If you're OK with that, buy it. I dig it.
Some potential retailers suggested by 3by3 (I can't vouch for 'em!) Update - The Daymare Version has a 5-song
bonus disc. Urgh...shelling out the extra cash for the Japanese releases hurts (￥2,940 = ~$35) but then again, it feels so good!
[4th April, 2012] - JKB Solo
[20th July, 2011] - JKB Remix No news since Ascension hit a few months ago. Not quite my cup of tea,
really. Not much news today, but I've added the Extra Life remix to the
remixes discography. The JKB remix can be found for free download over at
Free Music
Archive. It's worth checking out @256kbps.
Otherwise, not much to report. Enjoy the summer days (well, northern hemisphere folks, I suppose!)
[4th May, 2011] - Final: Apple / Jesu: Ascension
As mentioned below, Jesu's Ascension comes out next week. I've given it
several spins and it is what you might expect from a Jesu full-length. I'll spare you the generic adjectives, but
I can only really compare it to Conqueror. It is mostly without electronics,
leaving a dry and organic rock record. Don't try to compare it to more recent Jesu releases...again,
Conqueror is all to which I can liken it and it's for you to decide if that's
up your alley. You can pre-order it now from the official
site for a mere $14. As expected, Daymare Recordings in Japan
will be issuing the album with an as-of-yet-unknown bonus track as well.
The boy is a month old tomorrow. Remarkable!
[2nd April, 2011] - Jesu: Ascension Details [27th February, 2011] - Quickies: Jesu/Pale Sketcher In more exciting news, the new Jesu LP is coming out in May! Coming out on
Caldo Verde, the company that issued
Opiate Sun, will be releasing the LP on the 10th of May! Titled Ascension, it'll
be the first full-length Jesu in 4 years. More details to come, obviously. Looking forward to it!!!
[24th February, 2011] - Seventh Heaven Out
[22nd January, 2011] - Pale Sketcher In addition, ZapTown posted a new
interview w/ Justin (in his PS guise)
which is a good read. As always, thanks go to the Avalanchers community for all info.
[1st January, 2011] - 2011? Really? Jesu/Final That's the only main news I know of...will have to find the update on the HDD at home to compare. Hope you all had a great 2010 and I'm looking forward to a spectacular 2011. The fourth and final baby is due to arrive in early April. :D Going to be an exciting year!!!
[24th November, 2010] - Giving Thanks There's a new Blood of Heroes remix EP coming out next week.
Titled, Remain, it looks like it's going to be a great companion to the
already phenomenal debut. You can check out samples or just buy the $13 deal
over
at Ohm Resistance. Ships December 14th, I just saw. I also saw that I wrote almost precisely what they wrote about
it on the site. I don't care. I'm psyched.
Dethroned has come out! With the re-issue of
Heart Ache, it contains 4 'new' songs. I think these songs were
initially crafted back in 2003 but tweaked over the years.
There's a review of the EP over at
Pitchfork.
You can check out a new Pale Sketcher track as well. Both
an extended sample and
a digital purchase are available. You can get
it on iTunes as well, if you prefer. Mothra posted that info out...thanks! Oh, he also posted some links to
other recent JKB remixes, as reported on Avalanchers.
Oh, I updated the Master Song List once more. We've cracked 800 songs!
Again, be safe this week.
[19th October, 2010] - Extra Linkage Justin
Broadrick history article - this is an interesting, albeit long, read. It was on one long page but they've since split it to like 27, which
is irksome to read.
Want to hear another track from Dethroned? Well then,
head over to Stereogum. You
can sample Annul. Or, listen to ridiculously small snippets at
Amazon. Or say, "Screw it!" Just
Pre-order the fucker here. Grab a shirt while
you're at it?
Another interview can be found nyah. I
haven't read the whole lot here. Oh, and yet another here. This one is about Godflesh and it's brief.
Enough for today.
[9th October, 2010] - 15 YEARS! Update: Got a discography entry for The Apple Never Falls Far From
The Tree. All untitled tracks, no times yet.
So here it is. October 2010 and I'm 34 years old. Crumbling Flesh began in October of 1995 and I was 19
years old. I think that's an utterly remarkable thing. Today CF officially has existed longer than
Godflesh itself did!!!
Back in '95, Final, God, Ice, Sweet Tooth, and Techno Animal were the only side projects.
Now the side project discography lists at least 22.
What I find so amazing is how many of you have been with me for most of this run. Fortunately, we have the
excellent Avalanchers to keep everyone in the loop.
Justin posts his news over at his Facebook Page (also his blog
and Twitter). I'm quite content knowing that CF is
mainly an archive and discography database. I take great pride in all I've done the past 15 years and know for
certain that it was impossible without all the help. There's an awful lot of information on these pages.
Had I more time, I'd have done some sort of celebratory thing here, but followers know free time isn't abundant with
my three kids (and another coming!) However, I thought I'd share an old index file that's been sitting for
9 1/2 years. You can see the old index here! Last updated in February of 2001,
Hymns was still called Disconnected, Techno Animal had their final
three releases still to come out and Final's Three was already delayed (it
wouldn't come out for another 5 years!) Another old index
is from June of '99, right when I relaunched with the "new" design. (I know, haven't changed the design in 11 years!)
Some broken links on there, but one refers to an even older index page. This
one is from my Albany server and therefore has all broken links, but is dated March of '99.
Radio Hades was a new release.
OK, so sure, I love this nostalgia stuff. And I haven't posted any legitimate news here, but I do have some.
You can listen to Jesu's
Dethroned over at Adult Swim. I'm quite looking
forward to the Heartache & Dethroned which should come
out next month. The Japanese version will contain one alternate mix, I believe.
Final's long-awaited 2xLP, The Apple Never Falls Far From The Tree
is out on the 10th. No digital version will be available until at least April, so sayeth JKB. You can get
this release at Tonefloat.
14 untitled tracks and several different releases. 300 are coming on green vinyl, 125 on clear and 75 on
marbled (sold out already!) This ships with a deluxe gatefold packaging and comes on 180-gram vinyl. I'll
get this in the discography soon.
More of JKB's remixes & contributions can be found on his
Facebook Page.
So, with the news out of the way, the reminiscing done, there's nothing left, right? Well, just a final,
"thank you" to everyone who I've come across since I was a teenager. It was the right time, right place
in the autumn of 1995 when Bernt Rostad asked me to take over the old Godflesh Discographies.
I'm glad to be here in the autumn of 2010, still going, as one of the oldest sites I know!
[27th August, 2010] - God
[26th August, 2010] - Dethroned! Apparitions. Demixed.
Second, I got a copy of Apparitions, the new White Static Demon record. My daughter said it sounded like burning fire. I suspect that's the point. This is harsh and brash, with Justin's distorted vocals laid over feedback and noise. This is likely what Final sounded like many years ago. These power electronics are very similar to those found on the first WSD record. This is powerful stuff, you should be able to order this over at
Utech's Mailorder Page shortly. Many thanks to Keith for supporting the site here and putting out releases such as these! They have some Skullflower stuff there too. Nice!
Pale Sketches Demixed is now officially out. Personally, I love it, but it's...well...different. How many times have we used that word to describe another JKB project? I think it's great. The single is good too.
Oh right, the update. It appears White Static Demon has a new album coming out, and soon! It's due in just over 2 weeks! Didn't see that one coming. You can listen to two 1-minute samples over at Utech Records, but let's face it, a minute doesn't tell you much. Not with Never Ending Death Trip clocking in at almost 35-minutes on the last record. However, they sound similar to what was found on the debut. Speaking of Decayed, this too is getting the reissue treatment. It'll appear on a black, limited-to-merely-100 cassette! If you're interested, act fast. Both releases are coming out on the 4th of September. As for cassettes, I just threw out scores of them. Basement flooded. There goes my beloved copy of Show No Mercy that I got 20+ years ago. Anyhow, all info in the discography, where else?
Remember, 15th anniversary of CF in 2 short months.
Update #1 Totally useless, as always, but I updated the Master Song List. I hadn't updated it in a few years, apparently, at least online. Here it is, all 711 songs. I know I'm missing stuff. Feel free to update it and send it to me if you'd like. It's just a spreadsheet saved in html format.
Oh, we're expecting another child! Start the roller coaster again! :D After 3 daughters, 4 sisters and 7 nieces, perhaps we'll see a boy? Probably not!
[27th July, 2010] - Pale Sketcher
[22nd July, 2010] - STREETCLEANER
The remastered disc is exactly what you expected, and finally labels the tracks properly as Devastator / Mighty Trust Krusher! This trumps the original and poor 1994 re-issue to be the best version to get, though who precisely doesn't have this by now? Everything sounds clearer than the original, I even heard bits and pieces throughout that I've never noticed in my near 20 years as a Godflesh fan. I cannot say enough about this. While I haven't tossed the original on in years, I'll likely never break it out again.
Disc 2 is sweet, plain and simple. Here you get the original mixes of the first 5 tracks on the album. This was the second set of sessions, those without Paul Neville. Justin claims they were unsatisfied with these before remixing them shortly after (what you hear on the original release). The subtle differences here are worthwhile, as they too have been cleaned up but I think I still prefer the version we've had all this time. Then there's the pair of live tracks from 1990 (which I believe we had via bootleg for many years). They don't feature Neville on Guitars, I can never pinpoint exactly when he was in the band and when he wasn't! The 1989 rehearsal tracks are great as none of us have ever heard these renditions. It features a great 12-minute version of Pulp. This epitomizes the Godflesh sound, Ben's crushing bass and the trademark JKB noise a la 1989. The tracks don't sound great, but I'm happy to have them in my collection.
Finally, you'll get rough mixes of Deadhead and Suction. These are just Justin and his Alesis on 2-track cassette. JKB points out that the subtle melodies come out when it's not muddied down by the final recording mixes. You'll note that they remixed the Tiny Tears EP four times just to get everything audible. These tracks are so cool to hear, I was impressed at all that I've been missing in Deadhead all these years! They may be more novelty than normal listening material, but again, let's question who buys these things. Yeah, people like you and me!
It may be difficult to justify this purchase. Like many of you, I've listened to this album enough to take a few years off without even noticing it. However, hearing it this time has been both a reminder and new experience. I love the word 'crushing' and only used it once in this mini-review...but if you know Streetcleaner you know what I'm talking about. While the inlay has a 3-page essay that is too verbose and over-the-top for me to ever read again, we all know how simple it really is. This album is fucking crushing and now it sounds better than ever. If that's not enough, go back and turn it on again. Turn it up. Oh yeah. Effortless....
[14th July, 2010] - Pale Sketcher, Hellfest...
It's obvious that Godflesh hasn't been the focus of these pages for...oh...8 years or so. Has it been that long? Hell, it didn't even get top notch for news! Heh, well, they reunited for the Hellfest festival and things didn't go spectacularly, according to Justin's Facebook Page. Surely those over at Avalanchers have more to say about it.
I didn't feel such euphoria over the reunion, probably b/c I couldn't see it live. It's more than that though. I felt that the end of Godflesh was a natural thing. Maybe Justin himself put it that way. Can't complain about this, would love to get audio of it, but...well...I don't really know. Justin did post some images and I quite liked them. Here are two, check his site out for more.
The reissue of Streetcleaner is out and I haven't even looked into it. That's sad, really. You should though, as that's a pretty good record, had you forgotten. If I go around editing those discographies, I'll get disgusted with the decade-old presentation and then I'll have to redesign all of them. It sounds so daunting.
I came across an old page on the site...February 2001. Talked about a new album called Disconnected. CF is 15 this year. That's just brutal insanity. I'll reminisce that one for a few months. October is the birthday. Be sure to send me a gift. Or a small cake. Maybe even a torte? Sounds delish but it's past bedtime and I weigh too much as is. Thanks for reminding me.
[11th April, 2010] - etc. Blood Of Heroes - Wow! I'd heard of this ages ago, but only just heard all the samples at Ohm Resistance. OK, I wrote WOW, but in actuality I said, "Holy Shit!" The collaboration with Laswell, the first since JKB and Ben's guest appearance on 1992's Buried Secrets Painkiller release sounds awesome. You ever hear a sample from a new record and get all pumped and then hate the record? (the new Katatonia gave us one song, the best by far, I hate the rest) Well, this isn't the case here, b/c I friggin' love every single one. Well, almost, but whatever, I'm pumped.
Will update discographies shortly. Time is slim as of late. Kairi is now 2, for anyone counting, and CF does turn 15 this year.
Update: Tossed up a Pale Sketcher discography. One track from the forthcoming release is from the Japanese version of Pale Sketches (Supple Hope (2009 Mix)). I tossed it on, but don't see how that warrants a new project. The sample listed above, sure, but that one? *shrug* Yeah, I know, I'll buy it anyway. Already have 3 copies of PS as is! What's another?
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