Recorded June 2001 Hymns
(2001) Messiah
(2003) Release date 23 October 2001 | Length 74:00 Artist Godflesh Label Music for Nations | |
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Released 23 October 2001 (2001-10-23) Genres Industrial metal, Post-metal Producers Justin Broadrick, G. C. Green Similar Godflesh albums, Other albums | ||
Hymns is Godflesh's sixth studio album. It was released on 23 October 2001, on Music for Nations and was their final album before breaking up in 2002.
Contents
The album marks the debut of drummer Ted Parsons, and is the second Godflesh album (after Songs of Love and Hate) with a drummer recorded live in the studio. It was also the band's first album to be recorded in a professional studio. Parsons later revealed that the band recorded in a professional studio due to label pressure, and described the decision as "a mistake". The final song on the album, "Jesu", became the name of Broadrick's next project after he dissolved Godflesh on 10 April 2002.
Release
Hymns was released on 23 October 2001, on Music for Nations. A remastered version of Hymns containing bonus tracks was released on 19 February 2013. Included among the bonus tracks is the non-album track "If I Could Only Be What You Want", which was recorded during the Hymns session and previously available on the Loud Music for Loud People compilation.
Reception
Justin Broadrick stated that Hymns was a reaction to the previous album, Us and Them, which he "absolutely fucking hated" because he "lost sight of what Godflesh should be". In contrast, Broadrick described Hymns as "a new beginning" that was intended to counter the "watered down" rock associated with the then-popular nu metal genre. Iain Currie with Bring the Noise described Hymns as "brilliant", and contextualized the album as "a reminder of how bands of real calibre reacted to that nonsensical period...when nu-metal was picking up its destructive and soul destroying pace".
Personnel
Credits for Hymns adapted from 2013 reissue liner notes:
Songs
1Defeated6:05
2Deaf - Dumb & Blind4:25
3Paralyzed5:09