God

U.K. musician and author Kevin Martin launched God among his various projects after an unexpected catalyst in the form of Mark E. Smith. The Fall singer reached out in 1987 to solicit material for the Disparate Cognescenti compilation slated for his Cog Sinister label. Shane Rogan served as Martin’s chief early partner, supplying guitar while Martin handled tenor saxophone and vocals. God operated without a stable lineup or fixed style through the rest of the decade, as the duo enlisted assorted players and Martin partly focused on running London’s Mule Club, where the band shared bills with Napalm Death and Godflesh. Guitarist Justin Broadrick, a Napalm Death veteran who led Godflesh, soon befriended Martin and produced the group’s debut, the 1990 EP Breach Birth on Situation Two Records. Broadrick later became a full member through his continuing alliance with Martin on Techno-Animal and Ice, while God settled into a roughly nine-person lineup. The next major release, the 1991 live album Loco on Martin’s Pathological label, revealed the band’s turn toward blending 1970s and 1980s free-jazz sources with crushing heavy metal. Possession arrived in 1992 as the first proper studio album, surprisingly issued by Virgin Records. A second live set, Consumed, followed in 1993 on the Sentrax label. God’s final year, 1994, brought two more albums: the studio effort The Anatomy of Addiction and the remix collection Appeal to Human Greed. Martin and Broadrick then returned to their other collaborations, and God remained permanently inactive.