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By GREG MAKI
Formed during the industrial rock heyday of the 1990s, Godhead has managed to keep going strong while countless others have fallen by the wayside. Beneath the goth image and the programmed blips and bleeps, there always has been a strong pop sensibility to the songwriting and one of today’s best rock singers. The band has steadily moved away from its electronic roots since hooking up with Marilyn Manson, who served as executive producer, for its 2001 album 2000 Years of Human Error. The harder edge carried over to the follow-up, 2003’s Evolver. The Shadow Line, the first release from the newly formed Cement Shoes Records, has a similar live band feel, but the intensity has been dialed back a few notches. While it may not appeal as much to fans of Evolver, the foundation of the band’s sound—songwriting and the vocals of Jason Miller—is as solid as ever.
The first single, “Trapped in Your Lies,” kicks off the album and is one of the stronger tracks. My only complaint is that I prefer an opener with a little more energy. It does, however, gain points for a somewhat rare guitar solo by Mike Miller. Other standouts are “Hey You,” ushered in by Ullrich “Method” Hepperlin’s deep bass groove; “Push,” which effectively melds Godhead past and present with its driving riff and electronics; the harder “Once Before,” with a catchy, staccato vocal pattern to its verses; and “Goodbye,” which has a heavy riff and distorted vocals reminiscent of 2000 Years of Human Error. The real gem here, though, is the ominously plodding “Another Day.”
The Shadow Line is Godhead’s most accessible release by far, but it lacks a song as instantly memorable as “The Reckoning” or their cover of the Beatles classic “Eleanor Rigby.” Meanwhile, the more relaxed mood of the majority of the songs will keep away many fans of harder music. Too bad for them. Sure, Godhead can do better than this, but most other bands do a lot worse.
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