God (stylised in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

) were a British

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

band formed in London by Kevin Martin. The band's first official release was 'Sounds Like Thunder' in 1988, for a

Mark E. Smith Mark Edward Smith (5 March 1957 – 24 January 2018) was an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead vocalist, lyricist and only constant member of the post-punk group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the June 1976 Sex Pistol ...

-curated 'Disparate Cognescenti' compilation. The band expanded to include nine members and released two studio albums before disbanding in 1996. The group's abrasive combination of ambient, dub,

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

and

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

music garnered respect from their peers such as

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...

, Ministry, My Bloody Valentine, J. G. Thirlwell and

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

History

God originally consisted of Kevin Martin on

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

and vocals and Nigel Armstrong on guitar. The pairing came together after the pair, along with Andy Rendall (Admass) relocated from Weymouth to London, and Fall frontman

asked Martin if he wanted to contribute to Smith's 1988 ''Disparate Cognescenti'' compilation. In late 1988, Martin met

Justin Broadrick Justin Karl Michael Broadrick (born 15 August 1969) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and i ...

, whose project

Godflesh Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the original title O.P.D. (later Fall of Because) but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals, programmi ...

he had heard on John Peel's Radio 1 show. Broadrick began working with Martin and served as a producer for God's early releases before joining as a member.

Discography

;Studio albums *'' Possession'' (1992,

Virgin Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...

) *'' The Anatomy of Addiction'' (1994,

Big Cat The term "big cat" is typically used to refer to any of the five living members of the genus ''Panthera'', namely the tiger, lion, jaguar, leopard, and snow leopard. All cats descend from the ''Felidae'' family, sharing similar musculature, c ...

) ;Live albums *'' Loco'' (1991, Pathological) *'' Consumed'' (1993, Sentrax) ;Singles and EPs * '' Breach Birth'' (1990, Situation Two) * ''Car First'' (1990, Clawfist) a split 7-inch with Terminal Cheesecake * '' Appeal to Human Greed'' (1995, Big Cat)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1987 establishments in England British industrial music groups British experimental musical groups Musical groups established in 1987 Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Musical groups from London British noise musical groups