The singer and guitarist of pioneering industrial metal duo Godflesh had felt pain in his groin for several years. After a coughing fit following a show in Sofia, Bulgaria, he knew he had a hernia. By the time he got it surgically treated in February this year, it was 13cm long.
The next month, Broadrick shared a picture of himself in hospital and announced that Godflesh’s near-four-decade career will soon end. His condition had been caused by the physicality of shouting over their music since he was 18; he just turned 57. If he were to do so again, he would risk blowing out his abdominal wall entirely.
There will be two more studio albums – starting with this autumn’s reliably crushing Decay, recorded pre-surgery – and possibly some archival releases and remixes. It was just a small glimpse of the impact Godflesh have made. When Broadrick and bassist Ben “GC” Green formed the band in 1988, their cacophonous beats, programmed on a £500 drum machine, were unprecedented in the genre.
Broadrick’s riffs were immediate, dense and unsettling. From top to bottom, they were the heaviest band ever. Metallica were fans: guitarist Kirk Hammett got Andres Serrano to design their Load and Reload album covers after Broadrick showed him a Godflesh video directed by the provocative artist.
Mike Patton praised them as “ridiculously heavy” and invited Broadrick to audition for Faith No More in 1993. He turned the offer down. And many of nu metal’s frontrunners idolised Godflesh.
Founding Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison once blared their music during an interview at his house; when Broadrick first heard Korn’s debut single Blind, he thought: “I quite like it, but it sounds like Godflesh meets Faith No More.” Despite his widespread influence, Broadrick eschews the limelight. Born in Birmingham, he now lives with his partner, 15-year-old son and many, many pets in a north Wales village so remote that it doesn’t have as much as a pub. He avoids social situations, rarely granting interviews, but gives long, sometimes meandering answers.
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