Music review: Godflesh - Slavestate (1991)

Yep, this my favourite Godflesh work. Not Streetcleaner, not Pure, but this comparatively unknown 4-tracks EP stuck between both.

The thing is that while I love their legendary two first LPs, I think they have some subpar tracks that really drag them down: "Pulp" and "Devastator" for the first and "Monotremata" for the second. And I hate the chorus for "Baby Blue Eyes", for some reason I can't put my finger on.

As always, it's much easier to make a perfect EP than LP (and taking this theory to the extreme, singles, which is why pop music lives through them), so it might be a bit unfair to compare them under the same light… but I'm doing it anyway.

Anyway, I think this EP manages to showcase a bit of everything that made the surrounding LPs great: desolate atmosphere drenched in abrasive feedback ("Perfect Skin"), intoxicating electronic rhythms ("Slavestate", "Someone Somewhere Scorned") and a more classic, neck-breaking track sounding like the perfect transition towards Pure ("Meltdown"). And not a single second weaker than the other!

Even better when you know that the CD includes the equally good Slateman / Wound '91 single on its B-side; after three unfortunate filler remixes which could have been replaced by the Cold World masterpiece instead, I would have then been forced to add a special 11/10 rating to my system, heh.