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Godflesh is the debut EP by English industrial metal band Godflesh. Despite often being overshadowed by the critical success of Godflesh's first full-length studio album, 1989's Streetcleaner, the EP was one of the first industrial metal releases and helped define the genre's sound with programmed drum beats, heavy metal guitar and unusual emphasis on bass. It was originally released in 1988 through Swordfish Records and later saw several reissues on Earache Records with two additional songs. An unexpected underground success, the eponymous EP made it onto the UK Indie Chart and peaked at position 20. Composition The EP's sound, informed by Swans, Big Black, Killing Joke and Throbbing Gristle, is notably heavy and slow, built upon the deliberately repetitive pounding of the drum machine and exploration of guitar chords and textures as well as noise through the same means; Broadrick's vocals (either screamed or wailed) are sparse. Critical reception and legacy: To its sound: Melody Maker published three discrete reviews of Godflesh from 1988 to 1990, each from different authors. In the first, Simon Turner praised the EP's focus on a drum machine as well as Broadrick's "huge but overawed" vocals. Turner also appreciated the vulnerability of the music contrasted against its harshness and weight. In 1989, an author credited as 'P.O.' favorably contrasted Godflesh against then-current music trends, expressing a struggle to find what genre the band fit into. And in 1990, Sim
