In addition to yesterday's post on the cinema of the season, coming up the week(s) before All Hallows' Eve at Neumos are some of the heaviest, darkest and most baleful sounds to hit the west coast in many a year! Not equaled since 'Metalvember 2007', where SUNN O))), Gravetemple Trio, Oren Ambarchi and Jesu performed all within a few weeks. This season we get the first-ever west coast tour of Italian Psych-prog outfit, Goblin. Yes, the original Goblin, creators of the soundtracks to some of Dario Argento's defining pieces of Giallo Horror, namely "Deep Red" and "Suspiria". An indispensable ingredient in the makings of 1970's Italian Horror and Psychedelic exploitation cinema, Now 40 years later I've no idea what we should expect of this show, from all reports the sold-out NYC shows were outstanding but this is of course from decades-long fans who are being given their first opportunity to see the band live. Will no doubt be at least a curious/weird/psych time!
Of greater interest to me personally, the out-of-nowhere revival of one of the all-time defining Metal acts of the 1980's-90's, Justin Broadrick and G.C. Green's Godflesh reform to play some of the most punishing, loud, assaulting music made by man and machine. If this sounds like hyperbole, then it's safe to say you weren't at the shows on one of their last tours at the time for the "Songs of Love and Hate" album in 1996. An album at the time making 'Albums of the Year' lists for magazines as disparate as Terrorizer and The Wire. This was a convergence of the purity Metal assault of earlier Godflesh with a growing fascination with the weighty rhythms and hooks of Dub and Hip Hop that later came to inform Justin Broadrick's splinter project with The Bug's Kevin Martin as Techno Animal. Their new material promises to be a return to the era of just straight-up punishing Metal/Industrial assault, ala "Pure" and "Streetcleaner", with a forthcoming album in the works tentatively titled "A World Lit Only by Fire". Broadrick gave a recent in-depth, personal interview with Pelican's Trevor de Brauw discussing his new solo work under the Jesu moniker, "Everyday I Get Closer To The Light From Which I Came" and the past, present and future of Godflesh, "When Pelican Met Jesu", that's pretty much essential reading for any fans of contemporary Metal. Update: Due to Visa delays related to government shutdown, Godflesh have had to reschedule tour.
