The group, initially composed of B. C. Green and Paul Neville, formed in 1982 as Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 after Justin Broadrick joined, became frontman and renamed the project Godflesh.
[2][3] Though their debut, a self-titled EP, was released on a small, independent label named Swordfish, it was successful and drew the attention of Earache Records.
[8] Following the disappointing sales of their third album, 1994's Selfless, and the ban of the music video for "Crush My Soul", Columbia dropped Godflesh, and the band returned to Earache.
[11] Though two of their albums (Songs of Love and Hate and Hymns) featured human drummers, Broadrick saw these inclusions as a dilution of what the band set out to achieve.
[8] The bass and drums are unusually loud (as on the track "Avalanche Master Song" from the Godflesh EP), and the guitars and vocals play a secondary, more background role (as on "Pulp" and "Life Is Easy" from Streetcleaner).