Decline & Fall (EP)

When mixing began for Godflesh's return studio album, A World Lit Only by Fire, Broadrick found that there was more material than he wanted to include on a single release.{{cite web|last=Wiederhorn|first=Jon|title=Godflesh: Long Live the New Flesh|url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/godflesh-long-live-new-flesh|work=Revolver|date=October 2014 |accessdate=18 February 2018}} To keep the album under an hour, he cut the more "colorful" and "dynamic" outlying tracks and combined them to create Decline & Fall.{{cite web |last=Casserole |first=Scab |date=September 24, 2014 |title=Quite Annihilating: A Chat with Justin Broadrick of Godflesh |url=http://www.invisibleoranges.com/quite-annihilating-a-chat-with-justin-broadrick-of-godflesh-2/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629195518/http://www.invisibleoranges.com/quite-annihilating-a-chat-with-justin-broadrick-of-godflesh-2/ |archive-date=June 29, 2017 |accessdate=18 February 2018 |work=Invisible Oranges}} In a 2014 interview with the French publication La Grosse Radio, Broadrick spoke about the value of the EP format, explaining that it allows for more experimentation because the general public doesn't consider it as important as a studio album release.{{cite web|last=Tfaaon|title=Justin K. Broadrick, Guitarist and Singer of Godflesh|date=14 October 2014 |url=https://www.lagrosseradio.com/metal/webzine-metal/interview-metal/p10142-justin-k-broadrick-guitariste-et-chanteur-de-godflesh.html|publisher=La Grosse Radio|accessdate=17 March 2018}}

Decline & Fall and the following album feature extensive use of an eight-string guitar. The guitar, a signature model, was provided to Broadrick by Blakhart.{{cite web | url=http://www.metalsucks.net/2014/05/08/omg-new-godflesh-ep/ | title=OMG New Godflesh EP | publisher=MetalSucks | date=8 May 2014 | accessdate=19 May 2014 | last=Rosenberg|first=Axl}} On the use of this instrument, Broadrick stated:

{{cquote|I have been playing an eight-string guitar for a few years now, first release that was eight-string was the Jesu Christmas EP in 2010. All new Godflesh, both the EP and the new LP, were written and recorded with an eight-string, mainly due to the ability to tune even lower coupled with the capability to achieve more complex dissonant chords and riffs. On the latest Jesu LP Everyday I Get Closer to the Light from Which I Came, "The Great Leveller" is with eight-string guitar.}}

{{Listen|filename=Decline & Fall (2014).ogg|title="Decline & Fall"|description=The EP's title track showcases its extreme weight, distortion and repetition.}}

Musically, Decline & Fall is a heavy industrial metal release with extremely distorted, low and repetitive guitar work layered over similarly distorted bass from B. C. Green and Godflesh's signature drum machine beats. The EP marked a return to the group's mechanical percussion after 2001's Hymns, which featured live drumming by Ted Parsons.{{cite web|last=Suarez|first=Gary|title=Voidhead: Justin Broadrick on the End of Godflesh|url=https://consequenceofsound.net/aux-out/voidhead-justin-broadrick-on-the-end-of-godflesh/|work=Consequence of Sound|accessdate=14 December 2017}} Decline & Fall is intentionally dissonant and rough; Zoe Camp of Pitchfork wrote that the production of the EP could be heard as a response to the sanitation of industrial music, saying that "Godflesh remain fiercely loyal to lo-fi, treating songs as caustic exercises in overstimulation."

{{album ratings

|rev1 = Pitchfork

|rev1score = 7.9/10{{cite web | url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19482-godflesh-decline-and-fall-ep/ | title=Godflesh – Decline and Fall EP | work=Pitchfork | date=2 July 2014 | accessdate=6 August 2014 | last=Camp|first=Zoe}}

|rev2 = Resident Advisor

|rev2score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite web|last=Kalev|first=Maya|title=Godflesh – Decline and Fall|url=https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/15107|work=Resident Advisor|accessdate=13 December 2017}}

|rev3 = The Wire

|rev3score = Positive

}}

Decline and Fall was met with positive reviews. Zoe Camp of Pitchfork gave the EP a positive review, writing, "Avant and yet strangely accessible, industrially-minded but all-embracing, Decline & Fall confirms that a decade-plus-long absence has dulled neither Godflesh’s industrial spirit, nor their devotion to experimentation." Gregory Heany of AllMusic described the EP as "sludgy, grime-covered industrial metal that feels like a promising preview for their first post-breakup full-length, A World Lit Only by Fire."{{cite web | url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/decline-fall-mw0002673157 | title=Godflesh – Decline & Fall | publisher=AllMusic | accessdate=6 September 2014 | last=Heaney|first=Gregory}} Maya Kalev of Resident Advisor wrote, "Even when it seems like Godflesh are re-treading old ground, the effect is never less than thrilling."

Decline & Fall drew favorable comparisons to early Godflesh releases, like their 1988 self-titled EP and their debut album, Streetcleaner (1989).{{cite journal|last=Morgan|first=Frances|title=Godflesh – Decline & Fall|journal=The Wire|date=August 2014|issue=366|page=59}}

All songs written by Justin Broadrick and G.C. Green.

{{Track listing

| title1 = Ringer

| length1 = 6:23

| title2 = Dogbite

| length2 = 3:52

| title3 = Playing with Fire

| length3 = 6:01

| title4 = Decline & Fall

| length4 = 4:17

| total_length = 20:34

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Bandcamp and Japanese bonus tracks{{Cite AV media notes |title=Decline & Fall (Japanese edition) |type=CD liner notes |others=Godflesh |year=2014 |url=https://www.discogs.com/Godflesh-Decline-Fall/release/5764506 |access-date=6 April 2018 |publisher=Daymare Recordings |id=DYMC-222}}

| extra_column =

| title5 = Ringer

| note5 = Dub

| length5 = 7:09

| title6 = Playing with Fire

| note6 = Dub

| length6 = 6:08

| total_length = 33:52

}}

• Justin Broadrick – vocals, eight-string guitar, production
• B. C. Green – bass
• Machines – drums, rhythm

{{Reflist}}

{{Godflesh}}

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Category:2014 EPs

Category:Godflesh EPs

Category:Justin Broadrick albums

Category:Albums produced by Justin Broadrick

Category:Self-released EPs