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Friday Full-Length: Jesu, Jesu

Posted in Bootleg Theater on October 22nd, 2021 by JJ Koczan

In cinematic critique, the auteur theory considers a given film’s director as almost the sole visionary behind a project. Think of directors strongly identified with their work — a “Kubrick film,” a “Spielberg film,” etc. The idea is that while filmmaking is a collaborative process, that collaboration is geared toward bringing the director’s vision to life in the finished product, and all perspective is filtered through that vision one way or another. The artist — which in this case the director — isn’t separate from the work.

It’s hard in some ways not to think of Jesu along the same lines. Of course, the music of Justin K. Broadrick‘s more melodic post-Godflesh outfit has always been visually evocative, so I by no means expect I’m the first to relate it in terms of cinema, but in terms of the line where Broadrick ends and Jesu, the band, begins, it’s hard to know, especially when it comes to the self-titled debut album released in late 2004 through Hydra Head Records, Conspiracy Records (2LP) and Daymare Recordings (Japanese 2CD).

Broadrick, now 52, turned 35 the year Jesu released Jesu. At 74 minutes and eight songs, the album is comprised of songs written and recorded by Broadrick himself between 2001 and 2004. Jesu had already tested the waters with earlier ’04’s Heart Ache 40-minute two-songer — considered an EP despite the runtime — and clearly the intention was to break away at least in part from the prior established modus that had been defined through Godflesh, who across several landmark releases had no small part in defining the course of industrial metal in the 1990s.

Godflesh‘s last album, Hymns, was released in 2001, and the band broke up on the cusp of embarking on a European tour — with Fear Factory, as I recall — to support it. I interviewed Broadrick when this record came out and he spoke openly about what was going on at the time for him; he talked about it very much as a nervous breakdown, something personal in the realization that where he was heading was not where he wanted to be. Of course, Godflesh would get back together circa 2011, and go on to release new material — recently compiled as the All Hail the New Flesh box set; clever — but as the last song on Hymns was “Jesu,” one might think Broadrick was picking up where he left off.

In some ways, yes. Programmed beats and other electronic aspects pervade songs like “Sun Day” and “Friends Are Evil,” but the naked emotionality and self-examination of the lyrics in “Tired of Me,” “We All Faulter,” jesu jesuthe opener “Your Path to Divinity,” on and on, is something apart even from the deepest Godflesh ever went. And the music, what Broadrick — joined intermittently throughout by drummer Ted Parsons (who still contributes to the band), bassist Diarmuid Dalton and guitarist Paul Neville — does with the forms he helped define, is markedly different, less aggressive, more melancholy, more searching. There’s plenty of weight throughout, and the growls at root in the penultimate “Man/Woman” are fairly telling of how Broadrick had spent his career up to that point, but in addition to Godflesh‘s breakup being a significant event for that era in metal, the advent of Jesu was indeed enough of an aesthetic turn to mark it out as the beginning of a new band.

Jesu, largely, is a slog. There’s some tempo behind “Friends Are Evil,” and at just under seven minutes, “We All Faulter” feels like a ‘hit single’ in comparison to some of what surrounds, but there’s no question that the defining aspect of the record is the way it brings together a post-rock melody with sounds that are as heavy emotionally as they are in tone and impact. It it is a subtle release, with shifts in expressive intent — consider the structural differences between the meandering “Your Path to Divinity” and the more willfully repetitive “Walk on Water,” with its gorgeous, sad procession, or the lumbering and experimental feeling closer “Guardian Angel,” its lyrics down to four simple lines delivered in drawn out, barely-comprehensible fashion, “You found the key to escape/ But I need the same key to run away from me/And you know the need and we see the same things/We know the outside is your true inside.”

What does that mean? I don’t know. What does anything mean? That kind of verbal and aural impressionism — things vague, things opaque, things unknown — is rampant throughout Jesu, and as direct as some of Broadrick‘s past work had been, the obscurity here was no less a part of the purpose than the blend of guitar clarity and distorted rumbling beneath or the droning finish that caps the album, fading away like the course of a passing thought. There’s beauty in Jesu‘s Jesu — a lot of it — but as with much of the work the band would undertake, its exploration comes across as much about the person or at least persona behind it as it does the songwriting itself. It’s rare that crossing such a line results in a finished product so engaging or immersive.

Jesu and Godflesh — as well as Broadrick‘s myriad other works as JK Flesh, etc. — coexist now, of course, and in addition to various other mixes of this record, Broadrick‘s Bandcamp is host to the full slew of outings, including 2020’s Terminus (discussed here), which one only hopes was not prophetically titled. That album, Jesu‘s sixth overall, was the first one in seven years as much of Broadrick‘s attention had been put on the resurgent Godflesh, but as to what his future plans might be for one, the other, or both, I can’t say. The exploration that Jesu began nearly 17 years ago, however, is still going on, and one can hear that across their catalog. Whether Broadrick continues it or leaves it aside for some measure of time or whatever the future brings, this work remains singularly resonant.

I mentioned his age before, and not arbitrarily. To me, Jesu‘s Jesu sounds like someone entering adulthood and looking back maybe on some regrets, some sadness, some choices that could or should have been different, but ultimately reconciling what was with what is. There’s a lot of realization in it, sonically and emotionally, and the sincerity with which it’s presented is unmistakable. Individual. His own. A Broadrick album.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

This week was awful until yesterday. I turned 40 this past Tuesday — no doubt another reason I’m thinking of age above — and I’ve never been into birthdays. Ever. It’s not about a new decade. I don’t care. Let it go.

Then The Patient Mrs. bought me a home arcade and that showed up yesterday afternoon and, well, I pretty much melted. I don’t like defining feeling loved through the acquisition of material goods. I don’t need them. I haven’t had a job since 2017. My entire life is a gift, by any metric you want to use. When I talk about writing for this site, I call it “work.” Can you imagine anything so laughable? I have “work” to do posting about Kadavar and Elder. And that’s my life!

Ridiculous.

But I was genuinely touched by the gift and though I feel like there’s going to be an awful lot more screen time in The Pecan’s life as a result, at least maybe it’s something we can do together. He’ll be four on Monday. We’re having a party this weekend, family coming down. I expect and hope the cousins will also enjoy a bit of classic arcade fare.

It was difficult to be grumpy after that. She even put images from Star Trek on the sides. Lower Decks on one side and Deep Space 9 on the other. As if to say, “I know you, fucker!” to my entire being.

No Gimme show this week, gotta put together a playlist for next week. Might do all Type O Negative for Halloween? I don’t know. Anyone think that’s a terrible idea? Yes, I’m asking for permission to do it. Please leave a comment with your thoughts. Please. Anybody.

Next week is full. The Jointhugger album is out next weekend and in fact I had been hoping to put in the request to stream it but the week got full in spite of me and I think I missed my shot. I suck at this, we know that. Alas, I did the EP earlier this year so I’ll hang my hat there, though the record is really good. In any case, next week is front-to-back. Couple full streams, some videos, the whole nine. You know how we do these days.

I hope you have a great and safe weekend. If you want to come to The Pecan’s birthday party on Saturday, it’s from 12-4 and we’ll have a bounce house and snackies. And an arcade, apparently. Bring the kids. PM for address. I’m dead serious. The inside of the house is under construction and most of the party will be outside, so wear a hoodie or some such.

Otherwise, whatever you’re up to, hydrate, be well. Watch your head.

FRM.

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Friday Full-Length: Jesu, Terminus

Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 20th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

By no means has Jesu been dormant, it’s just been seven years since the last time there was an album out. 2013’s Every Day I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came occurred even as project founder, spearhead and sometimes-sole-member Justin K. Broadrick had already begun to revive and push forward with his other band, Godflesh. That wildly influential UK act would release a live album recorded at Roadburn playing the groundbreaking 1989 Streetcleaner LP in its entirety, the 2014 Decline and Fall EP (review here), and two full-lengths, 2014’s A World Lit Only by Fire (review here) and 2017’s Post-Self (review here), as well as sundry other short offerings/one-offs, in the intervening years. As Godflesh ascended to priority, the two-piece also played numerous festivals around the world — they’d eventually do 1991’s Pure in full as well — and thereby further cement their legacy with a new generation of fans.

But again, Jesu — also stylized all-lowercase: jesu, and pronounced “yay-zoo” — weren’t entirely gone. There were collaborations with Dirk Serries and Sun Kill Moon in 2016 and 2017, and a redux collaboration based on the track “Christmas” with Yang Li in 2018. An EP, Never, landed in July 2020, and the awaited full-length return of Jesu comes in the somewhat forebodingly titled Terminus, an eight-track/51-minute outing that speaks of endings and beginnings, delves into personal introspection, and ultimately finds its place emotionally and sonically drifting, floating away atop a gentle sea of heavy post-rock. Terminus brings its share of lumbering riffs in its opener “When I Was Small” and its title-track, “Sleeping In” and the later “Disintegrating Wings,” and a churning rhythm is nothing less than a sonic signature for Broadrick. But on a creative level, he’s no more held to that here than he is the barking shouts and harsh beats one might find on a Godflesh release. Jesu is simply and has (mostly) been since its 2004 Heart Ache EP and self-titled full-length a different incarnation of Broadrick‘s creative process — and it should be noted that neither is that process so delineated in terms of two manifestations. See also: JKFlesh, production and remixing work done under his own name, and various others through the years, FinalTechno Animal, and so on.

And given that is has been more than half a decade since the prior LP, Terminus‘ arrival comes with due welcome. Tracked mostly by Broadrick himself on guitar, synth, vocals andjesu terminus who-kn0ws-what-else with Ted Parsons on drums for “When I Was Small,” “Terminus” and “Don’t Wake Me Up,” its general atmosphere is familiar ground for Jesu in emotive explorations of past and present, lyrics looking to moments of regret, wistfulness and sometimes self-critique. At one point in “Alone,” Broadrick asks, “Am I your sight?/Or just a slight?,” even as “Disintegrating Wings” seems to make a more outward-looking assessment, “Lies are your truth/Truth is your lies,” that, as with any discussion of too-fragile objective veracity, is easy enough to place within the sphere of modern social discourse. Whether that’s Broadrick‘s intent or not, I don’t know — I’d be glad to ask; it’s been nearly a decade since I last interviewed him — as the lyrics are purposefully impressionistic in keeping with the vague outlines of the cover art and indeed the blurring between styles in the music itself, evoking the same questions the title-cut engages as to where an ending ends and a beginning begins. Maybe we’re not supposed to know, and indeed the album does close with the hypnotic instrumental “Give Up,” shoving off on a steadily fading beat that seems consumed by a wash of looped guitar and synthesized melody.

That sort of wandering course, a build up perhaps from an initial experiment or melody that pans out in a direction as it goes, is a crucial foundation for Jesu‘s work, and that holds even in “When I Was Small,” which is arguably the most straightforward of inclusions here. It’s all the more fitting, then, that the leadoff track comes immediately accompanied by “Alone,” the shortest piece at 4:19 and a near-immediate surge of melodicism and hook-making that in other hands would simply be summer-ready pop, but here has a metal-on-metal clang of a beat keeping time to Broadrick‘s dreamy vocals and winding synth. Lyrics toy with rhymes — “well, tell, hell” and “bright, light, sight, slight” in the two verses — and though clearly the song is intended to engage with pop and Britpop in particular, there is an element of twist in terms of aesthetic and it holds to the depth of mix that the opener established.

“Terminus” (9:30) and “Sleeping In” (8:39) feel paired for immersion. Once Terminus has gotten its throw-you-for-a-loop first 10 minutes out of the way in “When I Was Small” and “Alone,” it digs into its own atmospheric heart in the title-track, not departing entirely from the weight of “When I Was Small” or even the shimmer of “Alone,” but using both as elements in its own linear structure, capping with a gentle letting go and stretch of silence ahead of “Sleeping In,” which unfolds gradually, beautifully and with a patience that shifts smoothly into the cinematic post-rock of “Consciousness” with a masterful touch. That sets up the final stretch of Terminus in the relatively subdued, minimal-feeling-but-not-actually-minimal “Disintegrating Wings,” and the leaving-here last pair of “Don’t Wake Me Up” and “Give Up,” the former of which dedicates its second half to a brighter-sounding freedom, and the latter which is all the more ethereal for its lack of component verses even as it holds its beat for much of the duration.

Put together in a period between 2016 and this year, Jesu released Terminus last week. I didn’t know it was coming, but I bought it and wanted to write about it and somehow this seemed like the appropriate way to do that. I don’t know what if anything it foretells about a direction for Broadrick — if Terminus is his way of putting Godflesh to rest for the time being and shifting back toward Jesu as a primary outlet — or if that’s something that really could be known at this point, if it matters one way or the other.

What matters, of course, is the music. As always, I hope you enjoy that.

Thanks for reading.

Yesterday I was feeling in need of an outside reminder of why I do this. I was busy chasing down The Pecan, who for the last several weeks since it started to get colder and we haven’t been outside as much, has been furiously butting heads and increasingly rigid in his demands for things to be a certain way, and I saw some email or message whatever it was come in nagging about some low-stakes shit and I very nearly texted a friend and asked what the fuck I need this for in my life at this point. I didn’t, mind you, but the fact that I even came close to doing so is out of character for me.

I’m not fishing for compliments. I’m not. I get notes from people who say thanks for doing this and that means a tremendous amount. It was just kind of a rut week, watching COVID-19 case levels rise, putting the house back on lockdown as we have, kid not napping in the afternoon anymore, my fucking body, etc. On Wednesday I took a whole xanax and fell asleep watching Daniel Tiger on the couch with The Patient Mrs. and The Pecan before the latter went to bed. Actually got some decent snuggles. It was probably the highlight of my week. That and the Grayceon record, anyhow.

Did you listen to that fucking song? Why the fuck not?

I don’t know what’s going on today. I was gonna take The Pecan and do a pre-weekend grocery run to Shop-Rite, which is apparently the only store on the planet that has the right granola bars — Amy’s Organics Oatmeal Raisin, in the red box — but I don’t know about dealing with other humans, especially as it’ll be circa lunchtime when The Pecan’s bus drops him off, and that place fills up because of prepared foods, etc. There’s really no right answer at this point for leaving the house, except maybe 7 in the morning or 9 at night and I’m hopefully asleep by then.

Ah hell, kid just got up. I can hear him thumping around upstairs and he ran in his closet, which means dirty diaper coming soon into my future. Better punch out here.

Great and safe weekend. I’m gonna try and take a few minutes tomorrow to get my head together. We’ll see how it goes. Hydrate, wear a mask and all that. Much love.

FRM.

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audiObelisk Transmission 030

Posted in Podcasts on September 21st, 2013 by JJ Koczan

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Here is the Music Player. You need to installl flash player to show this cool thing!

With no slowdown in the music coming out as we move into the fall, it’s time for another audiObelisk podcast. Like last month, the idea here was to keep it super-simple, not go too long or get lost too much in including stuff just for the hell of it. Whether it’s a big band or someone you’ve never heard of in this tracklist, it’s all quality, and most of it is new. A couple of these albums haven’t even come out yet.

Things get pretty dark in the second of the two hours, but I figured what the hell? It starts off rockin’ with Sasquatch and The Freeks and so on, so it seemed there was room to doom out for a while, and once I threw in The Body, there was nothing to do but plummet even further. As it winds down, there’s some transition back to more rocking fare though with Earthless, so it’s not like it gets totally lost and drowns in the mire of dark tones and sonic abrasion. I know you were worried. I was too.

Like last time, it clocks in at just under two hours long. I hope you download and enjoy the tracks. Here’s the full rundown of what’s included:

First Hour:

Sasquatch, “The Message” from IV (2013)
Monster Magnet, “Mindless Ones” from Last Patrol (2013)
The Freeks, “The Secret Pathway” from Full On (2013)
Red Fang, “Blood Like Cream” from Whales and Leeches (2013)
Pyramido, “Tiden är Kommen” from Saga (2013)
Hollow Leg, “Ride to Ruin” from Abysmal (2013)
YOB, “Ether” from Catharsis (2013 Reissue)
Seremonia, “Suuri Valkeus” from Ihminen (2013)
Aqua Nebula Oscillator, “Human Toad” from Spiritus Mundi (2013)
Jesu, “Everyday” from Everyday I Get Closer to the Light from Which I Came (2013)
Ayahuasca Dark Trip, “To the Holy Mountain” from Mind Journey (2013 Reissue)

Second Hour:

All Them Witches, “Born under a Bad Sign” (2013)
The Body, “Prayers Unanswered” from Christs, Redeemers (2013)
Primitive Man, “Antietam” from Scorn (2013)
Windhand, “Cassock” from Soma (2013)
Atlantis, “Omen” from Omens (2013)
Earthless, “Violence of the Red Sea” from From the Ages (2013)

Total running time: 1:59:33

Hope you dig it. Thanks for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 030

 

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Jesu Interview: Justin Broadrick Confirms New Godflesh Studio Album, Discusses Jesu’s Latest, Imperfection, Self-Indulgence, Roadburn, And Much More

Posted in Features on May 6th, 2011 by JJ Koczan

Justin K. Broadrick was 19 years old when his band, Godflesh, released their ultra-seminal full-length, Streetcleaner, in 1989. Born and raised in Birmingham, England, he’d been a founding member of grind pioneers Napalm Death as they got their start, and left to pursue divergent musical interests — which, as anyone who’s ever sat and put Napalm Death and Godflesh side by side knows, he did. Streetcleaner was a new breed of extremity in music, something as emotionally weighted as it was inhumanly heavy, and though in their initial run, Godflesh would be lumped into various genres — industrial, metal, etc. — and would play into those designations at different points of their discography, the fact is that what might be their most pivotal and expressive work existed almost completely outside of classifiable genre in its day, and was all the more powerful for it.

Broadrick began Jesu (the band named for the final track on Godflesh‘s last album) with a limited issue of the Heart Ache EP via UK imprint Dry Run in 2004. Since then, he’s filled much the same role he played in Godflesh as the driving creative force behind the band’s output, overseeing massively well-received full-lengths like 2005’s Jesu and 2007’s Conqueror through Hydra Head while also unleashing a barrage of EPs and splits, among them the highlights Opiate Sun (2009) and 2007’s split with Battle of Mice. The latest Jesu offering follows a 2010 re-release of Heart Ache that coupled it with the previously unreleased Dethroned EP and is called, appropriately enough, Ascension.

Constructed with many of the same kinds of dense harmonic washes as Jesu‘s prior output, Ascension marks its progression in Broadrick‘s increased use of acoustic guitars and offsetting organic and synthesized elements from each other. As someone continually fascinated with pop music, he’s grown over time (and with much practice) into a formidable songwriter, able to keep an experimental feel to songs like “Broken Home” and “Small Wonder” while also playing off classic melodicism and structural foundations. Still, no matter how you choose to categorize his work — and it’s often that an artist will hear nothing in his or her own material beyond their influences — Jesu sounds like nothing else. The more Broadrick‘s creative development plays out over time, the more that remains true.

Having just borne witness to Godflesh‘s landmark Streetcleaner reunion set at Roadburn, it was a pleasure to (after screwing up international dialing for an embarrassing 437th time) ring up Broadrick and discuss some of the differences between Jesu and Godflesh, the self-indulgent nature of art, the possibility of a new Godflesh studio record, playing live with Jesu, how the imperfection is part of the charm, and more. It had been more than half a decade since I’d last interviewed him, but I found him this time to be just as open and honest as I remembered.

Complete 4,500-word Q&A and pics from Roadburn are after the jump. Please enjoy.

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