"Mothra" is a song by English

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...

band

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 ...

. It was taken from their 1992 album '' Pure'' and saw release as a

radio promo A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mus ...

and music video in the same year. The track's title is derived from 1961 Japanese film of the same name by

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 46 feature films in a career spanning five decades. He is acknowledged as the most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki and one of the founders of modern disaster film, wit ...

. Musically, "Mothra" is a grinding, mechanical song with shouted vocals and heavily distorted instruments.

Composition

"Mothra", the second track on 1992's '' Pure'', is a weighty

song. Ned Raggett of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described the track as "surprisingly commercial for the band" and highlighted its "memorable main riff and drumming" as pleasingly listenable; he selected the song as one of his favourites from ''Pure''. Joseph Schafer of ''

Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a Power, root-power, and field quantities, power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whos ...

'' agreed with Raggett, considering "Mothra" one of Godflesh frontman

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 ...

's most accessible songs, but added that "it still sounds like getting crushed by a ton of lead". Mike Gitter of ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'' and ''RIP Magazine'' described hearing "Mothra" by writing, "It's as if your whole body is made to serve as a giant ear, as you are beaten upon by a low-level shock wave. You lose all defenses and filters against the world". He also wrote that the song is "the sound of rock taken to its bleakest and slowest extremes". As is the case with most Godflesh songs, "Mothra" was recorded with a

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

, which, according to Shawn Macomber of ''Decibel'', "really hammers the teveAlbini vibe" in allusion to the band

Big Black Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded first as a solo project by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band became a trio with an initial lineup that included guitarist Santiago Dur ...

. Macomber also recognised "Mothra" as a fan favourite song. Writing for ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'', Sharon O'Connell also noted the song's grinding, deliberate repetition in a favourable light. ''

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

Noel Gardner wrote that the various machine, guitar and bass elements of "Mothra" seem incongruous from a distance, but in practice they work well. In their book ''The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock'', Ira A. Robbins and David Sprague characterise "Mothra" as having a memorable and definite groove. "Mothra" derives its title from

's 1961 film ''

Mothra is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', which first appeared as the title character in Ishirō Honda's '' 1961 film of the same name'', produced and distributed by Toho. Mothra has appeared in several Toho ''tokusatsu'' films, often as a recur ...

'', which features the fictional giant monster

. Some of the song's lyrics are borrowed from "Avalanche" by

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

, a track off of his 1970 album ''

Songs of Love and Hate ''Songs of Love and Hate'' is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen. Produced by Bob Johnston, the album was released on March 19, 1971, through Columbia Records. Recording and composition Cohen reunited with produ ...

'' (a title that Godflesh later borrowed).

Release

"Mothra" released as a promotional

maxi single A maxi single, maxi-single, or maxi CD (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. Maxi singles are often mistaken for extended plays (EPs), especial ...

in 1992. Though licensed from

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by r ...

(who, at the time, managed Godflesh), the promo was distributed by

Relativity Records Relativity Records was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his vinyl record shop, Important Record Distributors (IRD) in metropolitan New York City. The IRD distribution name was later known as RED Distribution and ag ...

. ''Pure's'' introductory track, "Spite", it also included on the release as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. "Mothra" is one of the few Godflesh songs to feature a music video. Directed by Barry Maguire in 1992, the video was described by the band as "a curious affair that mixed

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

-style cinematography and concepts with performance shots of Godflesh in a dodgy-looking disco".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from "Mothra" liner notes *

– guitar, vocals, engineering, production, rhythm programming * G. C. Green – bass, engineering, production * Robert Hampson – guitar (track 2)

References

{{authority control 1992 songs Godflesh songs Songs written by Justin Broadrick