JK Flesh – Posthuman

Justin K. Broadrick's genre-hopping tendencies have been well documented across a multitude of projects: aside from his industrial metal roots in Godflesh, he's traversed the realms of melancholic shoegaze (Jesu), electronica (Pale Sketcher) and moody ambient (Final). Latest endeavour JK Flesh sees the one time Napalm Death member returning to harsher sonic territory, playing out as a grotesque hybrid composed of elements from both his recent forays into IDM and the extreme, depraved nature of his early work.

 

This is most evident in Idle Hands, which features an ugly, repetitive guitar riff chugging along to computerised beats, distorted vocals gargling away underneath the mix. Cold and detached, dark and demented, Posthuman is an unapologetically difficult listen. With its detached atmosphere and heavy basslines, it has its middle finger pointed firmly in the direction of the post-dubstep crowd, and will come as a welcome curio for fans of this most cultivated figure of underground music.