Portland, OR.
18 April 2014
Every time a band reunites, it raises the cynical question: is this mere nostalgia, a quick cash grab? Musicians with nothing new to say, relying on former glories to make a quick buck? Or is it merely that their time has come and people are in a place to finally hear and understand what they were going for in the first place? With the recent interest in MIDI-fuelled rock by the likes of Factory Floor and the destroyed electronic textures summoned by Emptyset and some of the Hospital Records roster, it seems that the time is right for audiences to revel in Godflesh‘s ruin.
I arrived just in time for Cut Hands, (perfect timing, although I deeply regret not getting to see House Of Low Culture. Seriously, who puts a sludge metal band on at 8:30? Sorry readers; and HOLC. Next time.) Cut Hands proved to be the perfect opening act, working his particular brand of magick as William Bennett melded his patented afro-noise with intense volume and bass frequencies to drive the friendly metalheads into a frenzy, destroying all inhibitions as people’s drinks and drugs took hold. Although there wasn’t a ton, it is a heartwarming and encouraging sight to see burly industrial rockers actually dancing – and not the slamming kind, which lends further gravitas to my theory that this kind of rough-hewn techno tribalism is taking hold.For those that don’t know, or if you need a gentle reminder, Cut Hands is the newest project of infamous noise provocateur William Bennett, one half of one of the innovators of Power Noise in the late ’70s and early ’80s with his band Whitehouse. Whitehouse sought to shake people from their complacency with a relentless barrage of transgressive imagery that frequently involved lyrics involving rape and serial murder, wrapped up in rough and shoddy packaging. They created the modern day Noise Type, such as it is, and because we’ve been living with it for almost 40 years at this point, we’ve become somewhat numb to its provocative power; which means it’s hard to get to the point with a lot of “noise music'”. It’s designed to shut down yr thinking; to break, even for a moment, society’s hold on yr cerebral cortex.
William Bennett has spoken of “body music” in interviews, which holds a clue to what both Whitehouse and Cut Hands are about, and give some interesting insight into this evening, as a whole. Bennett uses every tool at his disposal to shut down the busy nervous system and let the flesh take over, not unlike the mission statement of Swans. In this way, the complex African rhythms of Cut Hands make more sense as a continuation of Whitehouse’s sonic attack. While the latter’s assault was punishing and relentless, Cut Hands are completely infectious, and actually stand to crossover to more mainstream audiences – or at least the dance crowd – which may be the most surreal thing to happen in Bennett’s career so far.
Armed only with a Macbook and a mixing board, he cranked through 45 minutes of deep bass and synthetic agogo as rhythms stacked up against polyrhythm until that blessed cerebral shutdown occured and we could all shut up and dance in peace. Cut Hand’s trance is brought on by authentic Haitian Vodou drumming, and there seems to be a real power in those grooves, even apart from their cultural baggage. There was a feeling of something Ancient and Immense among us, and Bennett let it ride him like a serpent, belly-dancing and clapping his hands over his head like a proper Houngan. He seemed to be enjoying himself, and actually had a bit of the superstar DJ stage presence. A Tiesto for the Left Hand Path?Cut Hands’ monolithic set just goes to show that not only ravers like to dance, and there is power to be milked and harnessed from the dancefloor. Different, potent kinds, beyond the typical oceanic big room experience. Exhilarated beyond belief, I was primed like a powder keg for Godflesh, who did not disappoint.
While I’ve listened to Godflesh’s records a decent amount, I didn’t know a lot about them and was surprised to see it was just two people: Justin Broadrick on guitar and vocals and GC Green on bass with machine drums belting from a laptop. This was the first clue that they are no mere nostalgia act, but rather the world catching up with the futurists. Because, say what you want about the state and originality of the current cultural climate, one thing that’s hard to argue is, in 2014, WE KNOW HOW TO DO BASS. Chalk it up to seven or more years with dubstep, but the bass weight of current music is truly staggering and the sound systems have kept up accordingly. So instead of Godflesh’s bass being punchy and clobbering, it was completely smooth, full and round…. like a bubble with no shell. It was a presence in the room with us, a pyramid made of air, a giant stalking the Earth. I was reminded of an electronic Swans or of a Steve Albini project that seduces rather than pummels, like a more accessible Big Black.They’ve been playing nearly the same setlist the whole tour, which means they’ve got it down to an alchemical science at this point, due in large part, no doubt, to the sequenced drums – which caused another reviewer to say: “There’s nothing they can do to these songs, not even on the subtlest level, to can allow them to veer from the script that the machine issues. Owing to the way one has to play their instrument in order to keep time with a machine, nothing like chemistry can really emerge, only re-creation.” I take issue with this sentiment, as I feel it raises certain questions about people’s expectations of performances, and what they rate as “good” (although this reviewer did say he liked the show). Do ballet dancers improvise? Concert pianists? Symphonies? Does this mean its not possible to have “chemistry” or a moving experience? I think this intersection of man and machine is integral to what Godflesh seem to be about, philosophically and aesthetically. And, as I’ve mentioned in another review recently, play along with a drum machine long enough and eventually you get really goddam good – which, ironically, can lead to more freedom and expression, built on a solid foundation.
While I love a good improvisation more than most, there is something completely thrilling about a really tight band pummelling and pumping away. The good majority of the set was from Godflesh’s most popular album, 1991’s Streetcleaner, and hearing these songs live in 2014 sets the record straight about a lot of the musical trends of the last 20 years. I feel like the industrial/metal/electronica hybrid that was churned out in the early ’90s was polished and co-opted by Nail Inch Nails which led in turn to a huge explosion of goth, industrial metal and EBM bands and the American take on industrial music. While I like Nine Inch Nails (quite a lot, actually), polishing this music to a pop perfection takes something from it, makes it into something else. There is something particularly thrilling about rough-hewn, aggressive but still danceable machine sounds. It’s riotous and anarchic, cyberpunk as fuck. With tastes going towards rougher electronics these days, I feel like that edge is creeping back in; which means that metal and electronic music can start to speak to each other again. Which is incredibly good news, in my world.The thing which struck me most about Godflesh, particularly Justin Broadrick’s vocals, was that they are almost a post-hardcore band, like somebody like Botch or Cave-In, with that same kind of gravel slide power, but without having to deal with the windmill-spinning meatheads in misogynist moshpits. This was aggressive music that was still beautiful in its way, that you could dance to without being killed. That was the last thing I noticed about Godflesh’s set: how surprisingly low-down and funky they were. There’s a hip-hop junglist drum power to their rhythms (which jived nicely with the Cut Hands performance) that separates them from the total whitebread homogeneity of most hardcore bands. Here’s music that you could fight to, or screw to, or go out vandalizing. Riotous. Anarchic. Inspirational.
I’ve been a huge fan of Broadrick’s post-Godflesh work, mostly with Jesu, so it was a real treat to see him getting back to his roots. While I love and respect the fact that Broadrick has done more than nearly anybody to push the boundaries of heavy music into new territories, incorporating shoegaze and electronics to create a beautiful, deadly hybrid, it was refreshing to see him just busting out and letting loose, completely unrestrained, rooted in the Earth.So, rest assured, rest yr pretty heads, this is no cynical cash grab or lame nostalgia attempt. We aren’t getting old. Supposedly, Godflesh are doing this tour to raise awareness for a new album, coming out this year sometime. We’re looking forward to the future.
-J Simpson-
