Industrial institution Godflesh made their return to recorded music a decade ago this year, releasing seventh album A World Lit Only By Fire in October 2014. Not only was it regarded as an instant-classic, it heralded a new age for the duo of Justin Broadrick and Ben Green; since its release, Godflesh added three more albums to their discography: Post-Self, Purge and the newly-released A World Lit Only By Dub.
Dropped earlier this month with little fanfare, A World Lit Only By Dub reworks five songs from the original album. Calling them remixes feels like something of a slight disservice to what A World Lit Only By Dub is. Each of the songs are given different (but similar) sounding names and they’re stripped down to their noisy, pulsing cores.
Opener “Cursed By You All” is driven by an eerie-sounding mechanical beat, stretching out over the course of nine minutes, a longer and heavier interpretation of the original song. “Dead Ending” often finds similar grooves to “Deadend” from the original album but the percussion feels heavier and more mechanical, while beats at the end cause the song to feel more frantic than the original.
Closer “Towers” is a perfect example of why A World Lit Only By Dub (and Godflesh’s various other excursions into the genre) works: Godflesh are so adept at finding and setting a mood, whether using jackhammering percussion and jagged guitars or moody electronic squeals, that their journeys into different sonic territory only heighten that ability. A World Lit Only By Dub won’t replace A World Lit Only By Fire on anyone’s record shelf, but as a companion work, it’s an essential.
