Reunions Galore: Godflesh and Swans

So last year Justin Broadrick announced that Godflesh would be playing a one-off reunion show at France's Hellfest Open Air Festival in June. In a video posted on Noisecreep Broadrick revealed that he was getting a bit exhausted with Jesu of late (Jesu is the project that Broadrick started following the breakup of his classic band Godflesh.) His feelings seem to reflect mine, I've enjoyed many Jesu releases but I've been missing the rage and grind of his older material. He also revealed more details on the reunion show:


"It will just be [bassist Ben 'G.C.' Green] and me with a big screen of visuals. It will be everything we wanted Godflesh to be back in the day..."

Ritual - jesu interview on MUZU

The reunion is exclusive to the show for now but Broadrick revealed that there is potential for more. The fact that he's tired of his Jesu project leads me to believe that there's a good chance he will release projects under the Godflesh banner following this show. Especially if it works out the way that the Swans reunion came about. Michael Gira has also expressed a desire for a change from his "Angels of Light" group, a project he started after the dissolution of his seminal band "Swans." Similar to my feelings of Jesu, I myself was growing tired of the Angels of Light releases and yearned for the darker clang of the Swans.

Michael Gira has recorded a number of acoustic songs that he says will act as the basis for most of the new Swans material and will be called "I Am Not Insane." He also announced that he will be selling the material in hand made packages to help fund the recording of a new Swans album. They've raised enough money which unfortunately means that all the packages are sold out, even the $150 package (which included getting credit as 'executive producer' in the artwork to the new Swans album!) Our only hope is that they release a MP3 download down the road or re-release it in vinyl form. In the meantime you can listen to the albums streamed on his Young Gods site (link after the jump) and watch video from the album's accompanying DVD.

Click here to view the Sold Out Packages and Listen to the tracks on "I Am Not Insane"


"THIS IS NOT A REUNION. It’s not some dumb-ass nostalgia act. It is not repeating the past. After 5 Angels Of Light albums, I needed a way to move FORWARD, in a new direction, and it just so happens that revivifying the idea of Swans is allowing me to do that."

I can't wait to hear these songs fleshed out, hopefully the Swans tour through Chicago. It looks like 2010 is turning out to be a great year for music so far.