Justin Broadrick appreciation post...

5ive - Versus
This 5ive are a band on hydrahead records, not the boy band famous for slam dunking 'da' funk. According to the blurb on the CD they are an instrumental rock band who use the bare essentials of guitar and drums, even though they have an apparently minimalistic approach there music sounds very busy - as many bands on Hydrahead, very much like Isis at times. The reason I bought this EP was for the Justin Broadrick mixes, it's really just the one mix but split into two bits - basically the music is slowed down and some atmospheric organ parts added on top. Pretty much what fans would have expected, won't here me grumble.

MP3: Soma Remix by JK Broadrick (Stage 1)

Godflesh - Streetcleaner
I was once a spotty long haired teenage metal fan (hard to belive I know!), but thankfully I found two albums that dragged me out of my rut. One was Nine Inch Nail's Pretty Hate Machine, and the other was Streetcleaner. I'd heard nothing like it, and to this day I don't think anyone has come close to it's relentless crushing power. What hit me more than anything was the simplicity of it all, beats were created using simple drum patterns, the vocals took on a mantra like quality at times, and Broadrick had this way of playing guitar riffs that made you want to freeze time and just wallow in the moment.

MP3: Head Dirt

Knut - Alter
Swiss metal anyone? How about remixed Swiss metal? I'll be honest I'm completely ignorant of most of the remixers and the source material. The only reason I bought this was the Broadrick remix, very brutal, very Godflesh at times, very enjoyable to listen to at volumes guaranteed to induce tinitus.

MP3: H/Armless

Agoraphobic Nosebleed - PCP Tornado / ANbRX
PCP Tornado was a 10 track, six and a half minute long album(?!) released on highly anti-social 6" vinyl by digital grindcore band Agoraphobic Nosebleed. There is a lot to be said for albums spanning such a short timeframe, frankly if you want to listen to grindcore properly you want it condensed into as short a time frame as possible. Kind of like a punch in the face, once is enough - being punched repeatedly is no fun! Someone though had the bright idea to add an album of remixes to this re-release, some of the remixers go for the trying to make as much noise as possible route (which is fine), there are also a few almost unlistenable gabba mixes, and then there is Broadricks which turns one of there songs into a Godflesh mix - pretty good trick for such a small amount of source material.

MP3: Flesh of Jesu Mix