Opiate Sun

Godflesh’s Justin Broadrick is a musical adventurer. While his résumé reads mostly on the heavy side, having produced or remixed music for Pantera, Isis and Pelican, and involving himself in Napalm Death and Godflesh, Broadrick has also been spending a great deal of time in his studio, piling up the instrumental tracks by his lonesome and coming up with some mesmerizing results. *Opiate Sun* is a four-song EP that captures the powerful, often soothing, wall of sound that frequently hides Broadrick’s vocals. Appropriately enough, the EP is released on Sun Kil Moon’s and Mark Kozelek’s Caldo Verde label. Stylistically, Jesu often sound like a heavier version of Kozelek’s own obsessive tunes, with guitar notes repeating and steadily gaining in power. “Losing Streak” and the title track feature ominous grinds before giving way to the flowing melody of “Deflated,” a seven-minute track that opens up to unusual instrumental and harmonic beauty. “Morning Light” closes things with a violent instrumental undertow.

Stop-gap EP from Justin Broadrick's most pop-oriented project foregrounds his memorable riffs and ringing climaxes.

Whether or not it is his intention, Justin Broadrick's Jesu project continues to move into ever more song-oriented material, while never lessening the volume or the sheer melodic thud of his attack.