Skullflower was founded in 1987 in London by Matthew Bower as the extension of the Pure (1982; Bower / Alex Binnie / Alex Winsor early-period violent-power-electronics configuration, Whitehouse-with-guitars method) and Total (later configuration) tradition. The early-period configuration was Bower (guitar), Stuart Dennison (drums and vocals; sustained early release) and Stefan Jaworzyn (bass and guitar; early-period partner through Xaman 1990). The partner is the Broken Flag imprint (the Gary Mundy / Ramleh partner across the UK power-electronics tradition); the document is the Skullflower self-titled EP (1988, Broken Flag, alternately titled Birthdeath).
The method: Skullflower's position runs through the UK power-electronics / noise / noise-rock tradition with traditional-rock-instrumentation vein (guitars, bass, drums) distinct from the synthesiser-and-tape configuration the early-period Whitehouse / Ramleh / SPK / Throbbing Gristle tradition inhabited. The Bureau reads the method as the extension of the UK power-electronics tradition into the rock-instrumentation configuration: Skullflower's position used ‘cheap, damaged guitars instead of cheap, damaged synthesisers’ (the method self-description Bower has used).
The fluid configuration: Skullflower's sustained partnership with the UK power-electronics / noise / industrial roster is established. The early-period partnership includes Gary Mundy (the Ramleh early-period partner; guitar configuration on the first two albums); Anthony Di Franco (the Ramleh sustained partner; bass partner from 1989 onward as JFK); Stephen Thrower (the Coil early-period partner; bass and drums partner); Alex Binnie (early-period bass partner); Philip Best (Whitehouse / Consumer Electronics / Ramleh early-period partner; vocals partner across the Last Shot at Heaven 1992 document); Russell Smith (later guitar partner; formerly Terminal Cheesecake).
early releases: Birthdeath EP (1988, Broken Flag, document); Form Destroyer (early release); Xaman (1990, the early-peak document for the howling-feedback / repetitive-riffing idiom); IIIrd Gatekeeper (1992, HeadDirt; Justin Broadrick's imprint; the transition into the drone / free-form noise manner with the Bower / Dennison / Di Franco trio configuration); Last Shot at Heaven (1992, recorded live in Northampton at a position organised by Justin of Cold Spring); Obsidian Shaking Codex (1993); Argon (1995); This Is Skullflower (1996, the early-period closing document).
The hiatus and resumption: the early-period 1987–1996 configuration dissolved following the This Is Skullflower 1996 document; Bower later sustained the Sunroof! position (more-melodic / keyboard-based palette) across the 1996–2003 career. The Skullflower resumption document is Exquisite Fucking Boredom (2003, tUMULt) as the Bower solo configuration. The later Bower-led catalogue includes Orange Canyon Mind and Tribulation (Key Blast), The Black Iron That Fell From The Sky To Dwell Within (Bear It or Be It) (2017) and the sustained career through the 2020s.
The Bureau's editorial reading: Skullflower is filed at Tier I as the central Matthew Bower British psychedelic-noise / drone-rock position. The sustained 38-year career across the 1987–1996 early-period configuration and the 2003-onward Bower solo configuration; the partnership with the Broken Flag imprint / Ramleh tradition; the roster's fluid configuration across the UK power-electronics / noise-rock / Coil early-period partners; and the position's influence on the later Justin Broadrick / Godflesh and American noise-rock tradition constitute the significance the Bureau files.