Test Dept and Brith Gof share ‘Arddylegog Ganu / Heroic Society’
Test Dept and Brith Gof released the single “Arddylegog Ganu / Heroic Society” on October 30, 2026, ahead of the “Gododdin: 2026 Remaster” box set.
London industrial group Test Dept and Welsh theatre company Brith Gof released the single “Arddylegog Ganu / Heroic Society (Early Studio Sessions, Reworked 2026)” on October 30, 2026 via Artoffact Records. The track is the second advance single from “Gododdin: 2026 Remaster,” a 3CD/1DVD box set expanding the pair’s 1989 album “Gododdin,” due December 4, 2026.
The single is accompanied by a video created by Jason Barton using footage from the stage premiere of “Gododdin” at an abandoned car factory in Cardiff, Wales, in December 1988. Test Dept founders Graham Cunnington and Paul Jamrozy built the new version from early studio session tapes, which the group says “were digitised and used as a template for a reworked version of the entire soundtrack.” The tapes carried early vocal takes later refined for the original album release, along with rhythmic material and samples not used on that version.
“Arddylegog Ganu / Heroic Society” follows the earlier advance single “Gwr A Aeth Gatraeth / Prologue (Early Studio Sessions, Reworked 2026),” both drawn from the sessions made for the original 1988 live soundtrack to “Gododdin.” The box set widens the original album’s seven tracks to 26, adding reworked studio sessions and a 1989 live recording from a quarry in Polverigi, Italy, plus a DVD documentary with footage and interviews. Full involvement came from Brith Gof members Lis Hughes Jones, John E R Hardy and Heike Roms, with audio remastered by Paul Lavigne at Kontrast Mastering and new artwork by Paul Jamrozy and Stefan Alt.
“Gododdin” is based on “Y Gododdin,” the earliest known poem in the Welsh language, telling of 300 Celtic warriors who fought a vastly larger invading force. Test Dept and Brith Gof’s staging combined live percussion and bagpipes with Brith Gof’s physical performance, music and Welsh-language vocals, premiering in Cardiff before further shows in Italy, the Netherlands, West Germany and Scotland in 1989.
“Arddylegog Ganu / Heroic Society” is available as a digital single on Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music, ahead of the full “Gododdin: 2026 Remaster” box set, which is open for pre-order as a 3CD/1DVD set and on red vinyl.
About Test Dept
Test Dept formed in London in 1981, building a reputation for percussion-driven industrial music performed on scrap metal and salvaged machinery alongside political and labour-movement themes. The group’s live soundtrack for “Gododdin,” created with Brith Gof and premiered in Cardiff in December 1988, ranks among the most important theatre events staged in Wales, touring Italy, the Netherlands, West Germany and Scotland through 1989 before its studio recordings were released as an album in 1989, produced by Ken Thomas.
Test Dept signed to Artoffact Records in 2025 for a series of catalogue reissues and new material, beginning with the 4xCD “Industrial Overture” box set collecting early studio and live recordings, and the announcement of the “Gododdin: 2026 Remaster” box set. “Gododdin: 2026 Remaster” is the second release in that reissue series, arriving a year after “Industrial Overture,” with new material from the band expected on Artoffact in 2027.
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