#ted parsons

[jkflesh]

GODFLESH

Nov 8th 2001 — Astoria, London UK

Paul Raven on bass, Ted Parsons on drums. Fear Factory + Janus Stark on the bill.

The third date of their then "final" tour, with Fear Factory and Devin Townsend. The first few northern UK dates weren't carried out for some reason.

Throughout the tour JKB crisscrossed performances with Techno Animal and GF, with Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman featuring on the latter's London return date, and JKB + Strapping Young Lad's Byron joining FF for a "Edgecrusher" sing a long in Germany…

"Godflesh remain an enigma. Horrific to some, confusing to most, yet a beautifully hypnotic noise to an enlightened few, the current live incarnation is Godflesh's strongest to date. [...] A mini pit at the front gives some indication that the current, more brutal, delivery of classic Godflesh could still cross over given the chance. "Hunter" remains a lead pipe heavy moment of sick wonder, while the immortal "Crush My Soul" bludgeons through the Astoria crowd like so much meat." — Metal Hammer

[xxguerrillaxxoperatorxx]

[nofatclips]

When I Was Small by jesu [Free download on Bandcamp]

[angrykev]

Modern Drummer

1993

[vinylspinning]

Prong: Prove You Wrong (1991)

Nowadays I pretty much worship every note Prong committed to tape during their brief, early ‘90s peak, but at the time of its release, I felt their third long-player left something to be desired, writing in the All-Music Guide that: 

On Prove You Wrong Prong began to allow a little more melody to trickle into their oppressive urban noise-scapes, but the album lacks some of the fresh spark that made the breakthrough Beg to Differ so unique and enticing. 

Not that there’s any sign of this to begin with, as the trio gets right down to business with brutal opener “Irrelevant Thoughts” – its tribal drumming and supersonic guitar effects literally stomping on the listener’s brain. 

Ensuing cuts like “Positively Blind,” “Hell if I Could” and the title track sound like scathing attacks on the emerging Generation X complacency, and the latter’s scratchy riff is a wonderfully perverted twist on Led Zeppelin’s “Celebration Day.”

New bassist Troy Gregory (ex-Flotsam and Jetsam) took over lead vocals for “Brainwave,” one of the disc’s few outright surprises, along instrumental “Territorial Rights” (part psychedelia, part world music), and a storming cover of The Stranglers’ “Get a Grip on Yourself,” which hipped metal-heads like me to the Prong boys’ roots in “cooler” styles like punk, hardcore and noise rock.

And, while two or three songs might have been discarded before the CD era demanded padded track-listings, fact is that the album’s first single, “Unconditional” – at once catchy and sonically devastating – was probably the best thing they ever wrote (too bad second single, “Pointless,” mimicked its structure and rhythm).

So, as I listen back now, I hear so many extra nuances that actually did differentiate Prove You Wrong from the ascetic, virtually fat-free perfection of Beg to Differ. 

Guess they proved me wrong ... 

And Tommy Victor and company really reinvented themselves over the next three years, by embracing industrial metal on 1994’s Cleansing.

More Prong: Beg to Differ, Cleansing.

[jgthirlwell]

I just received my copy of the beautiful Swans book, Sacrifice and Transcendence by Nick Soulsby, for which I was interviewed extensively. Swans are one of the most important groups of the last thirty years, and I have had a long friendship with the brilliant and driven Michael Gira. There has been a lot of cross-fertilization between the Swans and the Foetus live bands, with many musicians being members of both, including Norman Westberg, Algis Kizys, Ted Parsons and Vinnie Signorelli, In addition, I started the Wiseblood project with former Swans drummer Roli Mosimann and the Swans song “Jim” from the album My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky is about me. This book looks like a fascinating slice of musical history. You can buy it now at Amazon or wherever good books are sold, as they say!

[jkflesh]

GODFLESH — 1996.11.26 — Seattle, WA (The Fenix)

Just saw this uploaded for the first time — rare footage from the Songs of Love and Hate US tour with Vision of Disorder.

Ted Parsons on drums. Originally they wanted Brain on this tour as well, but he had just re-joined Primus. Much to their luck, only a few days later Prong was going through lineup changes so Parsons was available. Right at the start of the tour in DC he fell off the bus and had to sport a cast... Godflesh allegedly did a in-store appearance at Cellophane Square before this show, anyone able to attest?

Both Godflesh and Vision of Disorder wanted to continue and bring the tour to Europe but Earache wouldn't fund it...

[jkflesh]

GODFLESH — Vampire (Unreleased Demo)

This demo, recorded and mixed at Avalanche home studio in 2000, remains officially unreleased. While a 2CD remaster of Hymns dropped in 2013 — featuring select demos and completely reworked 2012 mixes based on these first sessions — this particular version never saw the light. It stands apart with a grindier, in-your-face tone, and a slightly different song structure.

In late 1999, with Ted Parsons now a full-time member, Broadrick and Parsons began developing Hymns — then working under the title Disconnect. Determined to break from the perception of being strictly an industrial act, Godflesh aimed for a more organic, purely rock-driven sound, stepping back from the overly ambitious and experimental Us & Them.

After a brief holiday break following Us & Them shows, writing resumed in January 2000, with basic tracking slated for April and hopes of a September release. There were even rumors of Mike Patton contributing guest vocals on one track, who then had shown interest Broadrick and Martin's Techno Animal.

During this period, the band had also parted ways with Earache Records, signing with Music For Nations — though they still felt disconnected from their mainstream approach. By spring 2001, they tracked the final album over two months at Foel Studio in Llanfair Caereinion. Insistent label interference meant Broadrick was denied final mix control, resulting in a compromised release that lacked the raw edge.