''Merciless'' is an EP released by

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...

band

Godflesh Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the title Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals and programming) and G. C. Gree ...

in 1994 through

Earache Ear pain, also known as earache or otalgia, is pain in the ear. Primary ear pain is pain that originates from the ear. Secondary ear pain is a type of referred pain, meaning that the source of the pain differs from the location where the pain i ...

and Columbia. In 1996, the EP was reissued along with the '' Selfless'' (1994) album as the compilation ''Selfless/Merciless''.

Content

Recorded from 1991 to 1993, ''Merciless'' comprises one rerecorded song, two previously unreleased songs, and a remixed song. The EP's title track, recorded in December 1993, is an updated version of a 1986

Fall of Because Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the title Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals and programming) and G. C. Gree ...

song. "Blind" and "Unworthy", tracks 2 and 3 respectively, are both labeled as "Biomechanical Mix" in the EP's liner notes, though no original versions are publicly available. This is the same tag that Godflesh frontman

Justin Broadrick Justin Karl Michael Broadrick (born 15 August 1969) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and i ...

applied to the

remixes A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

he made for

Pantera Pantera () is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas formed in 1981, and currently comprised of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-kn ...

in 1993. Track 4, "Flowers", is a stripped-down remix, or "demix", of the song "Don't Bring Me Flowers" from Godflesh's 1992 studio album, ''

Pure Pure may refer to: Computing * A pure function * A pure virtual function * PureSystems, a family of computer systems introduced by IBM in 2012 * Pure Software, a company founded in 1991 by Reed Hastings to support the Purify tool * Pure-FTPd, F ...

''. After the EP was mastered and completed, Columbia brought in

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

to refine the release. Broadrick said Ludwig's changes improved the sound. The EP's cover is taken from the 1943 experimental film ''

Meshes of the Afternoon ''Meshes of the Afternoon'' is a 1943 American short experimental film directed by and starring wife-and-husband team Maya Deren and Alexandr Hackenschmied. The film's narrative is circular and repeats several motifs, including a flower on a lon ...

'' by

Maya Deren Maya Deren (born Eleonora Derenkowska, uk, Елеоно́ра Деренко́вська, links=no;

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

reviewer Daniel Gioffre wrote that the EP "displays clearly that there is method in Godflesh's madness, that their peculiar brand of discord is carefully calculated, in the full knowledge that there is consonance lurking inside every dissonance."

Track listing

Personnel

G. C. Green Ben George Christian "G. C." Green (Born 1964) is an English musician, best known as the co-founder and bass guitarist of the industrial metal band Godflesh. Biography A native of Birmingham, Green was involved in the city's post-punk and got ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, production, engineering *

Robert Hampson Joshua Robert Hampson (born 10 June 1965 in Bromley, London, England) is an English musician and composer, known primarily as a guitarist in the band Loop, which he co-founded in London in 1985 with his then-girlfriend Becky "Bex" Stewart. Lo ...

– guitar (tracks 3 and 4) *Machines – rhythm, samples *

– mastering

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1994 EPs Godflesh EPs Earache Records EPs Columbia Records EPs