The band Mike Patton called “ridiculously heavy”
If there’s one thing Mike Patton knows better than most, it’s heavy music. As the frontman of alternative metal pioneers Faith No More, he brought something entirely unique to the fold. Patton blended one of rock’s most distinctive vocal ranges with a surreal approach to lyrics and an infectious stage presence that gave the band the tip of the spear they had always needed to take things up a notch.
However, it’s no surprise that when Patton joined in 1988, the band would have their most fertile creative period, coinciding with immense commercial success. Whilst some people might say that The Real Thing, their first album with Patton, is their chef d’oeuvre, everything that came after is also undeniably brilliant, with the frontman imparting his personality more explicitly on their work moving forward.
The group’s chapter with Mosley was widely influential in its own right, with even Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant a big fan of their work from this period. However, Faith No More’s first lap around the block with Patton, from 1988 to 1998, has had the most direct impact on music and culture.
When considering the most prominent bands that rose in the wake of this era, you will see that Patton’s natural propensity to switch from singing to guttural growling, piercing shrieking, or whispering had a significant impact. The frontmen of nu metal-adjacent bands such as Deftones, Korn, and Linkin Park would go on to take this all-encompassing approach and do something completely different with it, repackaging it for a new era.
A pioneer of modern heavy music, Mike Patton is one of those best-placed to comment on the state of this environment. When speaking as part of an interview during the recording of Faith No More’s fourth album, 1992’s Angel Dust, he discussed one of industrial metal’s most lauded and cultish acts: Godflesh.
The duo are led by the eminent Justin Broadrick, one of the early members of Birmingham grindcore pioneers Napalm Death, who would go on to find success with other projects such as Jesu. Best known for their 1989 debut, Streetcleaner, Godflesh have influenced a range of artists, including Mike Patton, Metallica, Korn, Helmet and more contemporary ones such as Code Orange.
When speaking during the recording of Angel Dust, Patton commended Godflesh for being “ridiculously heavy” and said that they’re one of the few bands that can make you think your stereo has broken. He maintained: “Godflesh are really just ridiculously heavy, I think. They’re one of the few bands that can make you wonder whether or not your batteries are running out on your stereo, and that’s a hell of a feat.”
Watch Mike Patton discuss Godflesh below.
