Godspeed You! Black Emperor | |
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 Godspeed You! Black Emperor performing live atRoadburn Festival in 2018 | |
| Background information | |
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| Origin | Montreal,Quebec, Canada |
| Genres | |
| Works | Godspeed You! Black Emperor discography |
| Years active |
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| Members |
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| Website | brainwashed |
Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated toGY!BE orGodspeed)[1][2] is a Canadianpost-rock collective that originated inMontreal,Quebec in 1994. The collective releases recordings throughConstellation, anindependent record label also located in Montreal.
The group released their debut albumF♯ A♯ ∞, in 1997 and toured regularly from 1998 to 2003. Their second albumLift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000) received critical acclaim and has been named as one of the best albums of the decade.[3] Then, following the release ofYanqui U.X.O. (2002), the band went on hiatus in 2003 to pursue other musical interests.
The band was rumored to have broken up, but reformed in 2010.[4][5] Their first post-reunion album'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! (2012) won the2013 Polaris Music Prize. This was followed byAsunder, Sweet and Other Distress (2015),Luciferian Towers (2017),G_d's Pee at State's End! (2021) andNo Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead (2024).
The band has adedicated following and is renowned for their influence on the post-rock genre.[6][7][8][9] Their music has been noted for its symphonic constructions, contrasts between ambient soundscapes and high-intensitycrescendos; use offield recordings andspoken word monologues; and focus ondystopian,leftist, andanti-war themes. Members of the group have formed a number ofside projects, includingThee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band,Fly Pan Am,Hrsta,Esmerine, andSet Fire to Flames.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor was formed in 1994 inMontreal,Quebec, byEfrim Menuck (guitar),Mike Moya (guitar), andMauro Pezzente (bass).[10][11] The band took its name fromGod Speed You! Black Emperor, a 1976 Japaneseblack-and-whitedocumentary by directorMitsuo Yanagimachi, which follows the exploits of aJapanese biker gang, the Black Emperors.[10] The band initially assembled after being offered a supporting act for another local band named Steak 72.[12] Thereafter, the trio performed live on a few separate occasions. Previously, the name "God Speed You Black Emperor!" had been used by Menuck on a limited cassette entitledAll Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling that had been recorded the year prior, with limited contributions by Pezzente on bass, although it would not be until 1994 that the actual band formed.
The band expanded and continued to perform live. According to Menuck, joining the group was simple: "It was like if anyone knew anybody who played an instrument and seemed like an okay person, they would sort of join up."[13] The group's number of members frequently changed during this time. Local musicians would often join the band for a handful of performances, then depart. The revolving door nature of the group's membership frequently caused it strain before the release ofF♯ A♯ ∞.[13] After that release, the group stabilized around a nine-person lineup with Menuck, Moya andDavid Bryant on guitars, Pezzente and Thierry Amar on bass guitars, Aidan Girt and Bruce Cawdron on drums, and Sophie Trudeau and Norsola Johnson on violin and cello respectively. Moya would depart in 1998 to focus onHṚṢṬA, being replaced by Roger Tellier-Craig ofFly Pan Am.[14] Tellier-Craig left in 2004 to devote more time to Fly Pan Am.[15] In 2002, the band released their third albumYanqui U.X.O., which was recorded inChicago and engineered bySteve Albini.[16]
The group was once misconstrued as being a band ofterrorists.[17][18] After stopping at a local gas station for fuel in the town ofArdmore, Oklahoma, during their 2003 tour of the United States, the station attendant working that day believed the group of Canadians to be terrorists. She quickly passed a note to another customer asking them to call the police. When the local police appeared, the group was held until it could be questioned by theFBI. Although the police were suspicious of the band's anti-government documents and some photos it had (such as those of oil rigs), they found no incriminating evidence. Afterbackground checks were run, the ensemble was released from custody and continued on its way to its next show inSaint Louis.Efrim Menuck later spoke to the crowd during their appearance in Missouri about what happened to them and speculated that their origin was a motive for being released quickly ("It's a good thing we're nice white kids from Canada").[19] The incident was mentioned inMichael Moore's bookDude, Where's My Country?.[20]
In July 2003, Constellation Records posted a note on their website reading: "godspeed will be on hiatus for the better part of a year, while the band members work on their many other projects".[16]
On April 9, 2010, the band announced it was reuniting for anAll Tomorrow's Parties music event in the UK as well as further US dates.[21] "after a decade's retreat, god's pee has decided to roll again", read the statement.[22] Mike Moya re-joined the band for the reunion, while original cellist Norsola Johnson declined to participate. The band played a full North American and European tour in 2011, and more dates in the UK including an appearance at the ATP 'I'll Be Your Mirror' music festival in London.
The following year, the band appeared at thePitchfork Music Festival in Chicago,Coachella in California, and theAll Tomorrow's Parties I'll Be Your Mirror festival in New York.[23][24] Drummer Timothy Herzog began touring with the band after the departure of Bruce Cawdron.
"3 quick bullet-points that almost anybody could agree on maybe=
-holding a gala during a time of austerity and normalized decline is a weird thing to do.
-organizing a gala just so musicians can compete against each other for a novelty-sized cheque doesn’t serve the cause of righteous music at all.
-asking the toyota motor company to help cover the tab for that gala, during a summer where the melting northern ice caps are live-streaming on the internet, IS FUCKING INSANE, and comes across as tone-deaf to the current horrifying malaise."
In 2013, the band won thePolaris Music Prize for their fourth album'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!, but it criticized the cost of the ceremony during the time ofausterity, stating, "Maybe the next celebration should happen in a cruddier hall, without the corporate banners and culture overlords."[26] The band's fifth albumAsunder, Sweet and Other Distress was released on March 31, 2015, and the sixth albumLuciferian Towers came out on September 22, 2017.
In August 2019, the band played new songs tentatively titled "Glaciers" and "Cliff".[27] They would appear on the band's seventh albumG_d's Pee at State's End!, which was released on April 2, 2021.[28]
In February 2022, a copy ofAll Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling was posted to4chan's music board,/mu/.[29][30] The band eventually uploaded the full audio of the tape to its officialBandcamp page on February 14.[31]
On February 24, 2024, the band debuted three new untitled songs at theKnockdown Center inNew York City.[32] On August 28, 2024, the band announced its eighth album,No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead, supported by the lead single "Grey Rubble – Green Shoots".[33] Its title references the death toll of Palestinians in theGaza Strip during theGaza war at the time of the album's conception.[34][35]
In August 2025, the band removed most of their discography from major streaming services, includingSpotify,Tidal, andDeezer. Their two albums released throughKranky—F♯ A♯ ∞ (1998) andLift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (2000)—remained temporarily available onApple Music but were scheduled for removal. A representative for Kranky stated that the label allows artists to determine how their music is distributed. The band's catalog continued to be available for purchase and streaming throughBandcamp. The decision followed similar actions taken byDeerhoof,Xiu Xiu, andKing Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, who had withdrawn their music from Spotify earlier in 2025. Those groups cited concerns regarding investments made by Spotify chief executive officerDaniel Ek through his fund Prima Materia, which has financedHelsing, a defense company developing artificial intelligence software for military applications.[36][37]
Film loop projections are an important aspect of the group's live performances, explained byEfrim Menuck as "[putting] the whole into context".[38]
The band istaper-friendly; they allow audience members to record their live performances, and fans often release new material before the band makes an official recording.[39]
The band toured Australia and New Zealand for the first time in February 2013, including a performance at theAll Tomorrow's Parties I'll Be Your Mirror festival in Melbourne. They toured China for the first time in April 2013, giving performances in Shanghai and Beijing,[40] and revisited China in March 2016.[41]
The band supportedNine Inch Nails on itsTension tour in October 2013.[42]
In 2015 and 2016, the band performed numerous concert and festival shows around the world.[43] Two new songs were previewed in many of the shows picking up the fan titles "Buildings" and "Railroads" from the projections that accompanied them. The band also lent live performances of their songs to a revival of the 2005 work "monumental" by Canadian dance troupeHoly Body Tattoo in 2016.[44]
The band is set to perform in ten countries across Europe and North America in 2024 and 2025.[45]
The Guardian wrote that Godspeed You! Black Emperor "don't simply espouseanti-capitalism but embody it, rejecting the selfish individualism at its core", pointing out how the band's operation as a collective challenges traditional notions of hierarchy. In a 2012 interview, Menuck said, "All music is political, right? You either make music that pleases the king and his court, or you make music for the serfs outside the walls ... We started making this noise together when we were young and broke. Whatever politics we had were born out of living through a time when the dominant narrative was that everything was fine."[46] Several of its songs also incorporate voice samples which express political sentiments, most notably "The Dead Flag Blues" (onF♯ A♯ ∞) and "BBF3" (onSlow Riot for New Zerø Kanada).
In 2014, Menuck identified himself as ananarchist.[47] This perspective has influenced the band's political activism.[48] The back cover ofYanqui U.X.O. depicts the relationships of severalmajor record labels to themilitary–industrial complex.[49] The liner notes of'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! criticize anti-environmentalist economic development and student protest suppression.[46]
Menuck is a vocal critic of Israeli policy towards Palestinians.[50][51] Theliner notes toYanqui U.X.O. (2002) describe the song "09-15-00" as "Ariel Sharon surrounded by 1,000Israeli soldiers marching onal-Haram Ash-Sharif & provoking anotherIntifada".[52] The title ofNo Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead references the death toll of Palestinians in theGaza Strip during theGaza war at the time of the album's conception.[34][35] In 2021, the band joined more than 600 other musicians in pledging toboycott Israel until it ends its occupation of Palestinian territories.[53][54]
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