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G. C. Green | |
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 Green performing with Godflesh in 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ben George Christian Green |
| Also known as |
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| Origin | Birmingham, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
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| Years active |
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Ben George Christian Green, also known professionally as G. C. Green and B. C. Green, (born 1964) is an English musician, best known as the co-founder and bass guitarist of the industrial metal band Godflesh.
A native of Birmingham, Green was involved in the city's post-punk and goth scenes in early 1980s and was close friends with musicians such as Paul Neville and Diarmuid Dalton. He formed his first band, OPD ("Officially Pronounced Dead"), in 1982 with Neville. The band usually rehearsed at Green's or Neville's house. They changed their name to Fall of Because after the Killing Joke song of the same name in 1985.
Initially they used a basic drum machine, with Neville playing guitar and Green on bass and vocals, and were writing songs influenced by the Cure's Seventeen Seconds and Faith albums. After meeting a 15-year-old Justin Broadrick in 1984 outside their local council estate shops, above which Broadrick lived with his parents, they started their friendship over their mutual admiration for the Stranglers, and other punk bands. Soon, Broadrick started playing drums in the band, and the three of them began writing songs that were influenced by bands such as Swans and Sonic Youth, whilst still retaining the psychedelic overtones that was inherent in the earlier Fall of Because music. Green was also introduced to various artists such as Throbbing Gristle, Whitehouse and SPK at this time by Broadrick. [1] [2]
In 1986 they recorded a demo, Extirpate, at Rich Bitch studios in Birmingham and sold a few copies to friends and other musicians in Birmingham. The band also played several gigs at The Mermaid public house in Birmingham with the likes of Napalm Death, Heresy and Amebix. In 1987 Broadrick left Fall of Because to join Head of David.
When he was sacked from Head of David in 1988, he and Green, who were sharing a flat together at the time, formed Godflesh. Throughout its career, Godflesh has released eight records and pioneered the industrial metal genre. [3] After recording Godflesh's sixth album, Hymns , in October 2001, Green left Godflesh. He was replaced by Prong bassist Paul Raven. Nevertheless, the band disbanded in 2002 in the midst of their European tour. [4] In following years, Green, who supported himself with various professions including as a social worker, [4] disappeared from the music scene [5] until 2010. He has significant hearing loss.
Green's only solo album, I-VII, was released under his "Vitriol" moniker in 1998 through Neurot Recordings. It was recorded in 1995. [6]
Green was married in 2010. [7] Green and Broadrick also reunited Godflesh in 2010 and began touring. The band's seventh album, and the first since the reunion, A World Lit Only by Fire , was released in 2014. [8] Their eighth album, Post Self , followed in 2017.
Rob Haynes of The Quietus described Green's bass sound as "like the noise a glacier might make as it remorselessly ground a mountain to dust." [5] Green's basslines were essential in Godflesh's music and "freed up Broadrick to conjur the atmosphere with his droning guitar sound." Green also adapted his style to Godflesh's various influences, including electronic music, dub, breakbeat and hip hop. [3] [9]
Green describes his sound as "heavy, downtuned and driving" and tunes his bass to B standard. He occasionally plays chords to "give extra weight and depth" and sometimes uses slapping to "add a percussive tone and physicality." His favourite bass guitarists include Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, Jean-Jacques Burnel of the Stranglers, Paul McCartney of the Beatles and Dennis Dunaway, the original bassist for Alice Cooper Band. [10]
Green's equipment as adapted from Bass Guitar magazine profile: [10]
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since Utopia Banished (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris, drummer Danny Herrera and lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway has remained consistent through most of the band's career. From 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado as the replacement of one-time guitarist Bill Steer. Following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece.
Scum is the debut studio album by English grindcore band Napalm Death, released on 1 July 1987 by Earache Records. The two sides of the record were recorded by two different lineups in sessions separated by about a year; the only musician in both incarnations was drummer Mick Harris. The two sides are very different, and the two taken together serve to bridge stylistic elements of heavy metal and punk rock. While the songs on the A-side are influenced heavily by hardcore punk and anarcho-punk, the vocals and lower-tuned electric guitars on the B-side anticipate subsequent developments in extreme metal. Loudwire put it in the list of the best 10 metal albums of 1987.
Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the original title O.P.D. but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick and B. C. Green (bass) renamed the band and decided to use a drum machine for percussion. Melding heavy metal with industrial music and later with electronic music and dub, Godflesh's sound is widely regarded as a foundational influence on other industrial metal and post-metal acts and as significant to both experimental and extreme metal.
Final is a project of English musician Justin Broadrick, creator of the band Godflesh, which he started when he was 13 years old. Unlike Godflesh, Final is primarily electronic in nature, taking on a space-like, dark ambient sound.
Justin Karl Michael Broadrick 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 industrial music. Following Godflesh's initial breakup in 2002, Broadrick formed the band Jesu.
Nicholas Bullen is an English musician and a founding member of the grindcore band Napalm Death.
Streetcleaner is the debut studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released on 13 November 1989 through Earache Records and was reissued with a second disc of previously unreleased material on 21 June 2010. The album is widely acclaimed by critics and is often cited as a landmark release in industrial metal; though not the genre's first release, Streetcleaner helped define what industrial metal would become.
Slavestate is the second EP by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released in July 1991 through Earache Records. The EP saw the band experimenting with more samples and electronic sounds than their predominantly industrial metal prior releases.
Pure is the second studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released on 13 April 1992 through Earache Records. Though originally labeled only as industrial metal, the album has since been recognised as one of the earliest post-metal releases. Musically, Pure is rhythmically mechanical and features harsh guitars, with protracted songs and an abundance of deliberate repetition. Like much of Godflesh's music, it is regarded as particularly heavy and aggressive, and these elements helped it gain critical acclaim.
Selfless is the third studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released on 26 September 1994 in Europe and on 18 October 1994 through Earache and Columbia Records. Being the band's major-label debut, the record features a more conventional and rock-oriented sound compared to Godflesh's previous releases. It spawned two singles, "Xnoybis" and "Crush My Soul". The music video for the latter was directed by photographer Andres Serrano.
Songs of Love and Hate is the fourth studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. Released on 20 August 1996 through Earache Records, it is the band's first album to feature live drums, played by drummer Bryan Mantia, combining a heavy metal sound with a more pronounced hip-hop influence, toning down the industrial and mechanical elements of previous releases. The cover is a photograph of Cancer Alley, Louisiana.
Us and Them is the fifth studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released through Earache Records on 17 May 1999 in Europe and on 8 June 1999 in North America. As with Godflesh's 1997 remix album Love and Hate in Dub, Us and Them is influenced by breakbeats, drum and bass, oldschool jungle, trip hop and hip hop.
Hymns is the sixth studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released on 23 October 2001 through Music for Nations and was the band's final album before breaking up in 2002. In 2010, Godflesh reformed and in 2014 released their comeback album A World Lit Only by Fire. Hymns had a troubled production and was intended to be distinct departure from Godflesh's intensely regimented industrial sound to something more traditionally hard rock. It was the band's second and final album to feature a live drummer rather than a drum machine.
Paul Neville is an underground experimental guitarist and musician from Birmingham, England.
Godflesh is the debut EP by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was originally released in 1988 through Swordfish Records and later saw several reissues on Earache Records with two additional songs. An unexpected underground success, the eponymous EP made it onto the UK Indie Chart and peaked at position 20. Though not supported by any singles or music videos at the time, a fan-made video for "Avalanche Master Song" has since been made official by the band.
Love and Hate in Dub is first remix album by English industrial metal band Godflesh released on 24 June 1997 through Earache Records. The remixed songs are sourced from their 1996 album Songs of Love and Hate, and they adopt a more ambient, dub and drum and bass flavor.
Diarmuid Dalton is an Irish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bass guitarist of post-metal bands, Jesu and Iroha. Dalton frequently collaborates with Justin Broadrick, who is the founder of Godflesh and Jesu.
A World Lit Only by Fire is the seventh studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released on 7 October 2014 through frontman Justin Broadrick's own label, Avalanche Recordings, and was the band's first full-length album since 2001's Hymns. It was preceded by the digital singles "New Dark Ages" in August 2014 and "Imperator" in September 2014, and it was followed by several international tours.
Post Self is the eighth studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released on 17 November 2017 through frontman Justin Broadrick's own record label, Avalanche Recordings, and was the band's second album since reforming in 2010. The single "Post Self" was released for streaming on 31 October 2017, and a second track, "Be God", was released for streaming on 11 November 2017, six days in advance of the full release. Godflesh avoided interviews in the wake of Post Self, hoping to retain some of the album's purity and give listeners a chance to digest the music in a vacuum.
Life Is Easy is the first compilation album by English industrial metal band Fall of Because, compiling songs recorded in 1986 and 1987 before the band became Godflesh. Released on 24 August 1999 through Alleysweeper and distributed by Martin Atkins' label Invisible Records, Life Is Easy contains many songs that went on to be rerecorded and turned into Godflesh tracks.
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