Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the original title O.P.D. but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick and B. C. Green renamed the band and decided to use a drum machine for percussion. Melding heavy metal with industrial music and later with electronic music and dub, Godflesh's sound is widely regarded as a foundational influence on other industrial metal and post-metal acts and as significant to both experimental and extreme metal.
The band signed to Earache Records in the late 1980s and released their debut album Streetcleaner to contemporary and lasting acclaim. After the release of their sophomore album Pure and their major label debut Selfless, they started experimenting with live drums as well as hip hop and breakbeat sounds. The resulting albums, Songs of Love and Hate and Us and Them, were followed by Hymns, which saw a simplification of the band's style. Shortly after Green's departure in 2002, Broadrick ended Godflesh and pursued various other projects, such as Jesu. Broadrick and Green reformed Godflesh in 2009, releasing A World Lit Only by Fire and Post Self to critical acclaim.