Godflesh are deliberately approaching the end of their story. The British duo of Justin Broadrick and Ben Green will release Decay, their tenth and penultimate studio album, on September 25 via Relapse Records. As its latest preview, the band have unveiled “Master And Slave,” the sprawling, abrasive piece that opens the record.
The word “penultimate” is neither promotional nor accidental. Broadrick has confirmed that Godflesh's active tenure is moving toward its conclusion and that, after Decay, one final musical statement from the band remains to come at a later date that has yet to be announced. Relapse officially describes the new record as Godflesh's penultimate album.
The album's origins are directly connected to Purge, released in 2023. Broadrick explains that both records emerged from the same large pool of songs developed during the creative period that began around the 2020 lockdowns. For Purge, he selected the material that best served what he wanted that album to accomplish and held the remaining songs back with the original intention of releasing them roughly a year later.
That plan ultimately stretched out. Broadrick wanted to find an outside label that would allow him to move away from self-releasing Godflesh, and the process took around two years. The band eventually found a new home with Relapse Records. Although the basic Decay recordings were already complete, Broadrick returned to them and altered various elements before considering the record finished.
"La música, para mí, rara vez está completa, pero tiene que llegar un punto en el que suficiente es suficiente”, explica Broadrick sobre su forma de trabajar. La idea resulta especialmente significativa en un momento en que no solamente habla de cuándo terminar una composición, sino de cuándo cerrar Godflesh como proyecto creativo.
The band's history began in Birmingham in 1988 and profoundly altered the vocabulary of heavy music with Streetcleaner in 1989. Drum machines, guitars reduced to mechanical masses of sound, oppressive bass and industrial repetition turned Godflesh into a decisive influence on later generations of industrial metal, noise, post-metal and extreme music.
Albums including Pure, Selfless, Songs of Love and Hate and Hymns expanded that language before Godflesh entered an extended period of inactivity. Their return produced the Decline & Fall EP and subsequently the albums A World Lit Only by Fire, Post Self and Purge. For Broadrick, however, the band's activity has never been driven by an obligation to maintain regular release cycles: Godflesh exists when he feels that particular form of expression is necessary.
The album will be available on vinyl, CD, cassette and digitally. Relapse currently has standard physical editions available for pre-order, while some limited deluxe variants are already sold out.
Presale:
Pre-order Godflesh – Decay from Relapse Records
