''Rise Above'' is the second studio album by

JK Flesh JK Flesh is a moniker of English musician Justin Broadrick employed for his solo work within electronic music. Broadrick's usage of the title spans back to his work in the 1990s with Kevin Martin (British musician), Kevin Martin in Techno Anima ...

, a moniker of English musician

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 ...

, and was released digitally and on vinyl on 3 June 2016 through the label Electric Deluxe under the designation EDLX.048. It is Broadrick's fourth release under the JK Flesh title and continues the sparse,

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

style of '' Nothing Is Free'', the EP released a year earlier.

Composition

Inspired by Broadrick's childhood in industrial

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, ''Rise Aboves sound is characterized by heavy distortion, kinetic beats, and noisy production. In keeping with the JK Flesh evolution, nearly all elements of

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 ...

are gone from this album and replaced with starker, more synthetic sounds. John Twells of ''

Fact A fact is a truth, true data, datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to Fact-checking, check facts. Science, Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by ...

'' wrote, "The doomy, distorted grind of

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 ...

and Jesu is certainly still present, but woven into a wheezing 4/4 template that doesn’t sound a million miles from

Andy Stott Andy Stott is a British electronic musician and producer, living in Manchester. Biography Stott's debut album was ''Merciless'' in 2006, followed by ''Unknown Exception'' in 2008. The EP ''Passed Me By'' (2011) marked a significant change in h ...

’s patented 'knackered house' or a

Surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

record on the wrong speed being played through a broken car stereo." Chang Terhune of ''Igloo Magazine'' also drew comparisons between ''Rise Above'' and the work of Andy Stott. ''

Heathen Harvest Heathen Harvest was an Internet blog devoted to music criticism, music news, and interviews. It focused on underground and post-industrial music, including ambient, heavy metal, gothic, and industrial music. The site, which was established i ...

'' likened the album's percussion driven approach to early industrial albums: "The predominant sound is that of the factory: machines, machines, and more machines." According to Broadrick, his vision for JK Flesh was only fully realized with ''Rise Above''. About the deliberate shift away from guitar and industrial beats, he said, "Wildly divisive, its lack of guitars and its adherence to 4/4 techno, has led to a misunderstanding of this project's intentions, but I find this is positive. I'm doing something ‘real', and I'm doing it because I need and love doing it. This shouldn't be easy for anyone."

Reception

''Rise Above'' received positive reviews. Writing for ''

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 ...

'', Tristan Bath said "So frank and brutal are the whiteknuckled grooves and aggression on Rise Above it’s tougher than ever to imagine where Broadrick will go next." ''

Resident Advisor ''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform established in 2001 and dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. Its editorial team provides news, music and ev ...

'' reviewer Justin Farrar wrote "It's a rare musician who could make music this bleak sound utterly engrossing." In another very positive review Ben Hudgins of ''

'' called ''Rise Above'' "unadulterated machine music that’s been crafted by a master engineer."

Track listing

Personnel

Taken from the ''Rise Above'' liner notes. *

– instruments, production

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Justin Broadrick albums Albums produced by Justin Broadrick Electro-industrial albums Techno albums by English artists