In All Languages

Though never truly exceeding cult status in the U.S., Godflesh enjoyed widespread success and recognition throughout Europe and the band's native U.K. thanks to a decade's worth of groundbreaking releases. Led by former Napalm Death guitarist Justin Broadrick, Godflesh combined grindcore's harsh brutality and the electronic precision of industrial music with often startling results, becoming one of the most uncompromising and hard-to-pin-down acts of the '90s in the process. The two-disc retrospective In All Languages does a fine job of profiling these experiments, and had the group only waited one more year so as to include a track from its final album, this set could have been utterly complete. As it stands, it still comes close enough, though. As well as collecting the highlights ("Like Rats," "Xynobis," "Frail," "The Internal") from the band's at times uneven records, disc one also visits key EP tracks ("Avalanche Master Song," "Slateman," etc.) to compile a near-perfect career synthesis. As for disc two, as expected, it's an odds and sods collection featuring everything from B-sides to extended mixes to BBC sessions. Given Godflesh's fearlessly experimental mission statement, such extras become especially relevant for a full appreciation of the band. A great place to start discovering Godflesh.