Fall Of Because – Life Is Easy (1999)

April 19, 2020

Before Godflesh, there was Fall Of Because, from what I can tell a fairly short lived project when members were also involved in Napalm Death or Head Of David. Featuring a trio of which would collaborate freely in the coming years, Fall Of Because plays bare bones industrial rock, where the incredibly influential noise from New York’s Swans had been trickled through Brum’s own industrial culture. It’s not quite Godflesh yet; think early Swans meets early Killing Joke at a Napalm Death / Joy Division double headline show (there’s plenty of death growls for those who fear the melodic). Also it’s not a million miles away from what Scorn would gestate with on Vae Solis before going off on their own dubby path.

The best thing about Fall Of Because is hearing a bunch of proto-Godflesh tunes. Early versions of several tunes will be present here, and the eagle-eared Flesh fan would be in for a treat if this has not been heard before (I’m pretty certain Justin is drumming the beat to “Pulp” over one of the live tracks at the end!). The live recordings tacked onto the remastered version are a bit hit and miss but what you’ve got is a collection of pretty much every Fall Of Because recording (save for a remix of “Grind” by Broderick, which appears on a compilation somewhere). A good find.