Godeater: The Way Of All Flesh
Just when you thought Scotland was in the possession of enough musical trailblazers along came GODEATER. Hailing from Glasgow the quartet burst onto the scene with single release Abyss Walker swiftly followed by their debut EP Outerstellar in 2017 which was greeted with rapturous applause. Since then they have continued to go from strength to strength, studiously building their fan base who are now champing at the bit for their impending full length to hit the airways. All Flesh Is Grass is was released on September 27th and frontman Josh Graham is excited to hear the verdict.
“I think it’s a mix of everything you’ve heard up until now and more. There’s plenty of the faster songs people might expect but we’ve experimented a lot more than I think people will anticipate. To me, the album has a very cinematic feel. There are plenty of explosive moments but it feels like it has a definite climax and ending. It definitely lends itself to being listened to from start to finish.”
GODEATER have acquired a reputation for their impressive song structures, this is process guitarist Ross Beagan takes a lot of pride in. “I tend to write lots of small individual sections before building on them and forming full songs. I’ve never intentionally set out to write technical music, that side of things has definitely come naturally, but I do spend a lot of time going over the finer details like song structure, dynamics, layering and sound selection until I’m happy with each song.”
The Glaswegians are all advocates of the vegetarian and vegan lifestyle, this is something that has inspired them to develop the lyrical content and transform it into a conceptual effort. “People have understandably picked up on the vegan/climate change themes which is cool, but there are a lot of other themes throughout the album. There is a lot about disillusionment and over-stimulation/over-exposure within society and where the world is going as a result of that,” discusses Josh. “I think that in order to create something authentic and emotional with themes as lofty as these, it’s important to relate them to the self and include a human element. It was still an incredibly personal album for me to write and the lyrics definitely reflect that. The music has natural peaks and troughs and feels like one whole piece, as opposed to a collection of songs. I felt like I really had to write something conceptual lyrically in order to compliment that. In saying that, the music is almost all linear and is very complex, so I had to come up with a lot of lyrics and I had to be pretty meticulous when fitting them in. I hate the idea of writing lyrics that just sound good for the sake of it and don’t serve the story of the song, so I spent a long time chopping and changing them until the last minute to get it exactly right.”
Music can divide opinion with its content. Whether lyrical or visual people have no qualms with speaking their mind if something doesn’t tick their boxes. Topics relating to the environment and the current climate tend to spark heated debates and this is something that GODEATER are prepared for. “Some people will listen to our music and completely ignore the lyrics and I’m fine with that. Some people might dig the music for the specific reason that it has a message,” explains Josh. “On the other hand, it will definitely turn some people off it. We definitely saw that when Silent Spring was released. I think with whatever you’re listening to, as long as you’re getting something out of it then that’s all that matters. The same goes for artists. The best music reflects the people writing it so just write about whatever feels right to you.”
All Flesh Is Grass is out now via self-release.
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