You're probably not familiar with Jesu. Come to think of it, you're probably not familiar with the name Justin Broadrick, either.

Broadrick was a founder member of Napalm Death, and made his name by being the driving creative force behind Godflesh, whose name bestrides the industrial music landscape like a colossus. A big, noisy, grindy colossus.

Godflesh ran from the late 80s until 2002, releasing landmark albums like Streetcleaner, Pure and Messiah. Described variously as "what Black Sabbath would have been had they formed in 1985" and "A Led Zeppelin for the 90s" (yeah, go reconcile those two quotes, I know), they were massively influential - Metallica's Kirk Hammett actually recorded with them at one point.

It all went wrong in 2002 when Broadrick suffered a breakdown and disbanded Godflesh. I, for one, was a bit miffed.

Two years later he popped up again with the Jesu project (named for the last track on the last Godflesh album, "Hymns"). More organic and emotional than Godflesh, it's actually less approachable on first listening. There's a certain pastoral sensibility to these giant, crushing powerchords that are distorted to just this side of white noise; Broadrick's vocals lend a real sense of exhaustion to the mix. It's potent stuff.

The Silver EP, released earlier this year, reveals Jesu taking a turn for the melodic. Don't be fooled by my use of the word "melodic": this is still powerful, extreme music. The production is cleaner, though, and the second track, "Star", is almost poppy - no Jesu song before it has had this degree of energy and positive attitude. This EP will almost certainly attract comparisons with "Loveless"-era My Bloody Valentine, and while that's a valid comparison, it's not to say that this is just another miserable shoegazer EP with an obligatory single-candidate.

It's not really all that miserable, in fact. The title track is contemplative rather than sullen, "Star" is, let's face it, a pop song, the third track, "Wolves", is practically acapella, and the final cut, "Dead Eyes", shows an aggressive streak that has been noticeable by its absence from Jesu's music.

Yeah, it's a buy-it EP.