Godflesh have announced their final album, Decay, set to arrive on September 25th via Relapse Records. Ahead of its release, the band has unleashed lead single “Living/Ending,” a brutal and bleak five-minute punisher.
Godflesh, the industrial metal band, recorded Decay in the same sessions as 2023’s Purge, with the original intent being to quickly follow that record with the remaining songs of the era. The songs also mark the end of the project, with founding member Justin Broaderick finding it impossible to continue following recovery from major abdominal surgery he had earlier this year.
Justin Broaderick said, “Fortunately, all of the recordings for Decay were completed long before the surgery, vocals included… although the back end of a couple of songs were recorded with the hernia itself, and that was a struggle. I was already aware that the Godflesh shout, so to speak, was exacerbating the hernia greatly, as was every Godflesh performance in the lead-up to the surgery once the hernia appeared, and the hernia was mostly caused by year upon year of shouting in Godflesh. The album was mixed post-surgery, and while I was still in some pain and considerable discomfort, but fortunately Godflesh is generally me expressing my pain, albeit [usually] mental, philosophical and existential, whereas this was physical pain.”
Music and Inspiration
“Living/Ending” builds itself off of pummeling two-note riffs, bludgeoning with the brute force of the band’s debut Streetcleaner but with the added hip-hop inflected programmed drums of Songs of Love and Hate. The chord choices lean toward black metal style dissonance delivered with doomy force, with the emotional throughline being an urban sense of darkness and despair fitting the current conditions of the world.
Album Release and Tracklist
Stream “Living/Ending” and see the album art and tracklist for Decay below.
The album artwork for Decay is a striking image that sets the tone for the music. The tracklist for Decay is as follows:
01. Master and Slave
02. Living/Ending
03. Feral Colony
04. Fear of Man
05. Fodder
06. Consume Me
In conclusion, Godflesh’s final album Decay is a culmination of the band’s unique sound and style, and is set to be released on September 25th via Relapse Records. With its brutal and bleak sound, Decay is sure to be a fitting end to the Godflesh project.
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