This album marks the end of 13 years of silence from Godflesh. Just being aware of the lengthy hiatus made me fairly excited to sample World Lit Only By Fire, but I have to admit being initially disappointed. Luckily, after a few spins my perception was better aligned to accept this for what it is and love it fully. Godflesh has always had a remarkably infectious sense of rhythm and that's just as apparent now as on previous albums, but World Lit Only By Fire has this incredible weight and purity, stripped down to bare essentials: heavy rhythms, dark atmosphere, and even darker lyrical imagery. When older bands fight the ebbing tide of creativity by adding flare and density to their sound, Godflesh refocused their efforts on exactly what they're great at which is creating devilishly dark, viral rhythms. Taken as a metal album I could see one easily dismissing this for not having enough going on. Taken as a minimalist industrial nightmare this is brilliant and with patience World Lit Only By Fire will charm the most hardened skeptic.
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