And again a little gem of excellent music got ejected from the depths of the JESU cosmos. It has been a busy and productive year for Justin Broadrick. Beginning with the release of the full length Conquerer, he ramped the stock up with the EP Sun Down/Sun Rise and a split vinyl in spring, now followed by the release of the EP Lifeline and a rare tracks compilation entitled Pale Sketches. Lacking of creative vibes Broadrick is definitely not.
Lifeline appears to me like a four-level word game, where one can change only one letter in every row, ending up with a completely different term; it’s like a subtle metamorphosis of musical beauty.
Opening title track is deeply rooted in Shoegaze and reminds me of much beloved Slowdive fame, just with ephemeral male vocals, shifted and layered, and guitars that are much Broadrick-like 3 notes deeper tuned. Spiraling ambient collages pile up to a dense atmosphere and gently ties the listener’s soul in elegiac worlds beyond.
You Wear Their Masks gives a little bit more room to the guitar walls, mostly into the depth and at the expense of ethereal soundscapes. Changes to Lifeline are just shades.
The more it turns in Storm Comin’ On when lovely Jarboe spends her charismatic voice on, adding a harsher and edgier note to the music, transforming ethereal lightness into a rough beauty.
At the End Of The Road the new instrumental approach that already pierced through the storm gets picked up, transforming the song into a earthier and heavier Post Rock attitude with some folkloristic tunes and finishing the metamorphosis.
It’s a great pleasure to pursue Broadrick going from strength to strength with every new output.

Lifeline is available as CD and also limited vinyl edition with different colors. I personally prefer the gold/black splatter edition ;)