Emerging from the tightly knit underground metal/grindcore scene of Birmingham, England in 1988, Godflesh quickly blazed their own trail with genre-detonating early albums like Streetcleaner and Pure, which proved immeasurably influential and canonical to an emerging wave of bands that sought to combine the ferocious sonics of metal with programmed beats that emulating the booming drum patterns of early hip hop. The duo initially split in 2002, at which time Broadrick formed the highly acclaimed shoegaze-metal band Jesu. Godflesh reformed in 2009 for a run of gloriously received festival appearances and sold out headlining shows, while gradually working on the material that would comprise the forthcoming new releases.