TEST DEPT | BRITH GOF “Gododdin”

TEST DEPT | BRITH GOF : GWR A AETH GATRAETH / PROLOGUE (Early Studio Sessions, Reworked 2026)

The pioneering London-based industrial music group Test Dept have announced the upcoming release of an expanded version of their landmark 1989 album ‘Gododdin’ (pronounced Godoth-een), which contained studio recordings of the visionary work they created together with the Welsh avant-garde theatre company Brith Gof at that time and toured as an epic performance piece in the UK and mainland Europe.

‘Gododdin’ is based on the earliest known Welsh language poem, which tells the story of the fate of 300 Celtic warriors who set out to defend their homeland from 100,000 invading Angles around 600 AD. The poem’s themes of occupation, oppression, cultural annihilation and the fight for freedom are all still too resonant.

The staging of ‘Gododdin’ was premiered at an abandoned Rover car factory in Cardiff, which was transformed using 600 tons of sand, 50 trees, 30 wrecked cars and a set that flooded as the performance progressed. Test Dept provided a blend of live percussion and bagpipes to enhance Brith Gof’s physical performance, music and voice for what was not only a searing elegy for a nation’s identity, but also its vanishing industrial heart.

Among the most important theatre events ever held in Wales, a celebration of that landmark show consisting of a discussion and Q&A with Test Dept and Brith Gof will take place at Chapter in Cardiff on 24th October as part of the 25th anniversary line-up for the city’s annual Experimentica festival. Tickets are available HERE.

GODODDIN | live in Polverigi, Italy 1989 (photo by Clifford McLucas / Giovanni Matarazzo)

‘Gododdin: 2026 Remaster’ comes as a 3CD/1DVD set that widens the canvas markedly to better portray what was a monumental artistic endeavour, the original 7 tracks now joined by 19 that have never previously been available. Included is a fully reworked perspective on ‘Gododdin’ utilising recently unearthed multitrack tapes of early studio recordings as a base upon which Test Dept founder members Graham Cunnington and Paul Jamrozy built stunning new versions of the material during the summer of 2026. A third CD captures the intensity and power of one of the 1989 live performances, which took place in a quarry in the Italian town of Polverigi.

The set is rounded out with a DVD of a contemporaneous documentary containing footage from the live shows alongside interviews with the performers, academics and experts that provide a deeper appreciation of what was a monumental achievement and exhilarating spectacle.

Compiled by Test Dept with full involvement from Brith Gof (Lis Hughes Jones, John E R Hardy, Heike Roms), all the audio has been freshly remastered by Paul Lavigne (Kontrast Mastering) and is housed in a 5-panel ecopak with a 24 page booklet containing archival imagery and writings, including an essay by academic/author and Test Dept expert Alexei Monroe. A separate red vinyl LP contains the original album with a previously unreleased track and special printed insert. The freshly redesigned artwork for both formats was created by Paul Jamrozy and Stefan Alt (ant-zen).

The original ‘Gododdin’ album was produced by the legendary Ken Thomas at Jacobs Studios and incorporated existing studio and field recordings made by Test Dept. The music was augmented with brass and wind instruments (courtesy of Brith Gof’s John E R Hardy) and bagpipes (Alistair Adams), while Jamrozy’s voice was complemented by the shimmering Welsh language vocals of Lis Hughes Jones.

‘Gododdin: 2026 Remaster’ is the second in a series of back catalogue reissues and arrives exactly a year after the well-received 4xCD ‘Industrial Overture. Studio & Live Recordings 1982-1985’. It is presented in conjunction with Artoffact Records, who will also be releasing brand new Test Dept material in 2027.

TEST DEPT  |  BRITH GOF – GODODDIN TRACKLIST

GODODDIN
CD & DVD
(AOF503CD)
TRACKLIST
CD1
GODODDIN: 2026 Remaster
1. SARFF / ENTRY OF THE WARRIORS
2. GWŶR A AETH GATRAETH / PROLOGUE
3. ARDDYLEDOG GANU / HEROIC SOCIETY
4. GLASFEDD EU HANCWYN / BERSERKING
5. TRICHANT EURDORCHOG/ JOURNEY
6. YN NYDD CADIAWR / BATTLE
7. TRUAN YW GENNYF FI / LAMENT
8. Y FAMWLAD / THE NATIVE LAND (BRITH GOF MANIFESTO) *
CD2
GODODDIN: Early Studio Sessions, Reworked 2026
1. GWŶR A AETH GATRAETH GAN WAWR *
2. SARFF / ENTRY OF THE WARRIORS (Rework)*
3. GWŶR A AETH GATRAETH / PROLOGUE (Rework) *
4. ARDDYLEGOG GANU / HEROIC SOCIETY (Rework)*
5. GLASFEDD EU HANCWYN / BERSERKING (Rework)*
6. TRICHANT EURDOCHOG / JOURNEY (Rework) *
7. YN NYDD CADIAWR / BATTLE (Rework)*
8. TRUAN YW GENNYF FI / LAMENT (live at Rover Car Factory, Cardiff)*
CD3
GODODDIN: Live In Polverigi, 1989 (2026 Remaster)
1. VOCAL INTRO *
2. SARFF / ENTRY OF THE WARRIORS *
3. GWŶR A AETH GATRAETH / PROLOGUE *
4. ARDDYLEDOG GANU / HEROIC SOCIETY *
5. GLASFEDD EU HANCWYN / BESERKING *
6. INTERLUDE *
7. TRICHANT EURDORCHOG / JOURNEY *
8. YN NYDD CADIAWR / BATTLE *
9. TRUAN YW GENNYF FI / LAMENT *
10. EPILOGUE *
DVD
GODODDIN: Documentary (1990)
*
*Previously unreleased

VINYL (AOF503LP)
–
limited edition red vinyl
GODODDIN: 2026 Remaster
Side
One
1. SARFF / ENTRY OF THE WARRIORS
2. GWŶR A AETH GATRAETH / PROLOGUE
3. ARDDYLEDOG GANU / HEROIC SOCIETY
4. GLASFEDD EU HANCWYN / BERSERKING
Side
Two
5. TRICHANT EURDORCHOG/ JOURNEY
6. YN NYDD CADIAWR / BATTLE
7. TRUAN YW GENNYF FI / LAMENT
8. Y FAMWLAD / THE NATIVE LAND (BRITH GOF MANIFESTO) *
*Previously unreleased

MORE ABOUT GODODDIN

‘Gododdin’ is based on Y Gododdin, the earliest poem in the Welsh language (written around 600 AD), which tells the tale of 300 Celtic warriors who mounted an attack against 100,000 invading Angles that they were always destined to lose. An elegy for slain heroes and a eulogy for their bravery as fighters, the version of Gododdin made by Test Dept with Brith Gof reaffirms the energy, optimism and dynamism of the last great flowering of Celtic society.

Gododdin was premiered by Test Dept and Brith Gof at an epic event in an abandoned car factory in Cardiff in December 1988, with further performances the following year in Italy, the Netherlands, West Germany and Scotland. For Welsh speakers, including the physical performers, the poem and its restaging were not just symbolic or exotic, and its meaning was felt at a deeper level. For non-speakers, the Welsh passages worked as a sonic texture shaped by its unique phonetics.