A new chat with Justin K Broadrick of Godflesh, Jesu, etc. fame over at The Guardian charts out Broadrick‘s career in music, from his teenage passion and early efforts in the grind scene, to his assertion that the initial rise of nü-metal buried Godflesh‘s label prospects in the 90s, and even turning down an audition for Faith No More.
Of course, the elephant in the room that is the impending end of Godflesh was also discussed at length too. Broadrick announced this past March that his hernia surgery has effectively put an end date on Godflesh‘s career, as he is no longer physically able to handle the rigors of the screaming and the like that the band demands from him.
While the penultimate Godflesh album, “Decay“, is due out later this month on September 25th, one final studio album is scheduled to follow it. That endcap on the influential British industrial metal outfit’s career is tentatively called “The End” and is expected to be recorded in November/December.
Those expecting the same level of ferocity delivered among earlier efforts in the band’s career should be warned however, this new feature notes that Broadrick intends to implement higher-pitched screams and spoken-word sections due to his physical inability to safely growl and bellow.
Broadrick will remain active after Godflesh is put to bed however, continuing to focus on Jesu and JK Flesh, along with various remix-related projects for Godflesh.
Also on his plate is an upcoming new “brutal, industrial, heavy” solo band dubbed White Light District. This new project is expected to incorporate sampled percussion and electronic textures, with session drummers appearing during live performances. Broadrick stated of it:
“I wouldn’t dare call it a Godflesh replacement. Because it’s heavy, ugly music, people may venture that it is, but it will be less rock based. It’s not confined by that instrumentation. It will sound like Glenn Branca with metal guitars, except it’s not metal: 15 layers of guitar that create this ultra-cluster of fucking hallucinatory dissonance, which could not be created by a band.”
Broadrick also revealed he has another track in store with Phoebe Bridgers, whom he recently collaborated with. The latter found Broadrick not through Godflesh, but via his more mellow output with Jesu. Having already appeared on two of her new tracks, he’s next set to guest on an upcoming song she has in the works for an film. He stated of working with her:
“The fact that she was so personable and we were immediate friends was brilliant for me, but I was overwhelmed by how big she is. I was literally sending music to Taylor Swift’s personal engineer! I’m catapulted into this huge, mainstream world, and I’m like, ‘How the fuck am I here?!’”
He continued, “She wanted me to play guitar and bass on a song for a film. She said to me a few months ago, ‘I’m just going to keep hitting you up.’”
