Godflesh have unleashed “Consume Me,” the crushing final track from their new album Decay, out now via Relapse Records. Built around the duo’s signature metal weight, “Consume Me” is bleak, punishing and hypnotic. Broadrick’s guitars clash against Green’s bass with force, while the track’s relentless rhythm delivers final blows. It’s a fitting final statement for an album that Broadrick describes as the band’s tenth and penultimate record.

Listen to “Consume Me”

The song also reflects the darker ideas running through Decay. Godflesh’s music has long dealt with pain, isolation and existential dread, and “Consume Me” pushes those themes into especially bleak territory. Rather than offering an easy release, the track feels like being swallowed by the machinery around you. Instead of relying on a traditional narrative, it leans into the song’s oppressive mood, reinforcing the sense of decay and unease at the heart of the track.

“Consume Me” closes Decay, a six-track album that also includes “Master and Slave,” “Living/Ending,” “Feral Colony,” “Fear of Man” and “Fodder.” For Godflesh, though, Decay represents more than another record. Broadrick has described the album as part of the band’s imminent conclusion, calling it their “tenth and penultimate album.” After nearly four decades of crushing industrial metal, the record finds Godflesh confronting the end of one chapter while looking toward whatever comes next.

Listen to “Consume Me” and Decay now via Relapse Records.

Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat