Concert Monkey takes a look at 20 of the best albums of 2014

Not a countdown. Not a Top 20.

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This October, the Industrial metal legends Godflesh released their first album in 13 years.

It took to Justin Broadrick more than 10 years to get Godflesh reunited. Just as for Michael Gira with Swans. A daring parallel for two groups huge in significance and impact but I make it because now we have two examples which unstick the label of dinosaur reunions from the heavy music scene.

The album title is a reference to William Manchester’s book A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance - Portrait of an Age (1992). The first track is called New Dark Ages. Draw the line and see where this is leading…

It’s not a reunion album issued to comfort fans’ melancholy and empty their pockets for bringing back cheap memories. The music is full of substance, giftedly raw, as mechanically aggressive as ever. It’s not a nostalgic album either. It’s the same band which depolarizes the boundaries between electronic and heavy music, re-branding itself within the new technologies of nowadays.

Genre: Industrial metal

Tracklist

New Dark Ages
Deadend
Shut Me Down
Life Giver Life Taker
Obeyed
Curse Us All
Imperator
Towers of Emptiness
Forgive Our Fathers 

Streaming on Godflesh's BANDCAMP

YOUTUBE

Godflesh - New Dark Ages