By: Deek

Posted: Jul 5, 2006

Godflesh is probably one of my all time favorite bands. The heavy, mid-paced industrial grind of Justin Broadrick's key band. Jesu is the natural follow up to where Godflesh left off with "Hymns". Jesu's sound changes with each release. The “Heartache” EP took the epic sound of Godflesh and stretched it out over two 20 minute songs, and was not repetitive like many would think. Their self titled debut album was released near the beginning of 2005 and, to me, became one of the best releases of 2005. With the industrial and bass-heavy, rhythm-riff-melody-driven sound, it was essentially a doom-industrial masterpiece. Now, in 2006, Broadrick's next output is the 4-song EP titled "Silver". Again, the sound is different. Again, Broadrick hits it on the money.

One look at the cover of the EP, which is a picture of an electrical line pole in foggy weather, prepares the listener: this is not going to be a happy release by any means. The EP opens with the slow-paced title track. The song at its core uses two basic melodies; one in the first half, one in the second. Right from the start, the listener can tell that this is not going to be a hard hitting release like the prior two were, but rather a laid back, depressive sound with a Broadrick touch. Strangely enough, this opening song gets you thinking about the past, both the good and bad. 'Star', the second song, has a fast pace (by Jesu standards) and is almost pop-like. But uplifting in the least. "If I could just ignore it..." is the first line you hear with Broadrick's soft voice. It's sort of strange hearing his vocals like this, after being so used to his coarse vocals from Godflesh. Either way, everything meshes great on these first two songs. The one thing that really attracted me to this song, though, was the imagery I get when listening to it. Not a music video-like thing or anything, but a concert setting, like this would be the amazing hit of the night. A phenomenal song. The third song, 'Wolves', is a slight departure from the greatness of the first two songs, but it's still worthy of the release. Closer 'Dead Eyes' is an electronica/industrial piece, one that you just sit back and trip to. One thing this EP definitely shows, me, though, is that Ted Parsons is still one of the best drummers out there.

There's something about the mix of the simplicity, the "easy-listening" sound, and the depressive nature that just make this 30 minute EP an amazing release. This is an EP that you really just have to sit and lay down to enjoy it. Let the music entrance you and you'll see the light. I can't wait for the next output of Broadrick's brilliant mind.

Rating: 8/10

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