Head Of David - LP

Label: Blast First

Year: 1986

This one is sort of a follow-up to the Godflesh post from yesterday, although not exactly. You see, while Justin Broadrick would eventually show up in Head Of David, at the time of this release he was still grinding away in Napalm Death and Fall Of Because, but if you can't hear the connection between Head Of David and Godflesh...well, then I cannot help you.

I think a quick summation of this record would be Big Black + Black Sabbath + Swans. It's pounding, repetitive, hateful music drenched in omnipresent feedback. Sometimes the songs crawl across the floor, and others bang away for a mid-tempo beating, but they all employ a particularly disturbing wall of sound approach. The guitar, for example,  rips off some cycling neanderthal solos, but they never jump out from the mix, rather they maintain a low squall, that one review I read described as "claustrophobic", which is an especially astute observation.

If you are a fan of the proto-industrial hammerings of Big Black, Cop Shoot Cop, Swans, or a fan of droning metal then this record is right up your alley. Maybe you just want to hear what spawned Godflesh? 

Pulverising.

DL