Gojira - From Mars To Sirius (2005)

While the first two Gojira records created buzz, it was not until the third record "From Mars To Sirius" in which the band hit their stride and became real famous within the metal community, taking their craft to a whole new planetary level. It is with this album where Gojira finds that perfect balance of groove, atmosphere, and brutality, fusing together to make a true juggernaut of metal music. Let us do like Pinocchio and get inside the whale to find out what makes this album the pinnacle of Gojira.

So this is a concept record, depicting a race who tries to resurrect a dead ocean planet so it can be habitable again. This obviously has a lot of connections to what we are doing to our world today, an environmental message of what our future might be like if we do not change our way of living. It is kind of a tough subject, because while it is important, it is really easy to be too on the nose, being obnoxiously preachy about it. Fortunately, the French group does weave in their message really neatly into their story, while still being crystal clear over what they are trying to tell us.

To go together with this environmental theme, Gojira serves us with their patented style of complex progressive death metal, but this time it acts like an onion, where you find layer after layer after layer of awesome music. Every instrument helps in the building process of each song, adding some incredible depth that we did not hear in the first two record. It also helps that the production is the best one yet, highlighting each member just as much as they need to really make each track stand out. It is true, clean music poetry.

The biggest improvement from the last record is that "From Mars To Sirius" is just so god damn diverse in its delivery, not only nailing those dark, ultra heavy moments, but also manages to shine in the more ethereal moments like in "Where Dragons Dwell", "Unicorn", and "Flying Whales". It is still the heavier moments that do steal the show. "Backbone" crushes your eardrums before the following track "From The Sky" does a blood chilling scream of the title. Then we have the appropriately named "The Heaviest Matter of The Universe" that technically might not be the heaviest track of the record, but everything here comes together so insanely good that it leaves the heaviest impact on you. Let us also not forget the closer "Global Warming", where Christian Andreu and Joe Duplantier flex all of their finger muscles with this technical guitar lick that is played through most of the songs, which is just under 8 minutes long. Closes off the record in a horrific, yet cool, way.

Really, there is very little to complain about here. Some moments might be dragging on a little too much, and the 1+ hour run time is a bit on the long side, but there is no question that "From Mars To Sirius" is still a masterful record of progressive excellence, taking the listener through a journey of a life time. Gojira finally find their winning formula that they still use to this day. Yes, this album is amazing, and it does not even matter if it does sound like Korn at times even (looking at you "World To Come").

Songs worthy of recognition: From The Sky, Ocean Planet, The Heaviest Mater of The Universe, Flying Whales

Rating: 9/10 Backbones

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Gojira - The Link (2003)

If "Terra Incognita" was Gojira's equivalent to crawling, then the sophomore effort entitled "The Link" is displaying a band who is taking their first, unbalanced steps to become a full grown entity. It is a record that takes every lesson the band learned through its predecessor, both good and bad, and improved upon (so no more double trips to Belgium). Still, with such complex patterns and rhythms at hand, the evolution was still slow, so let us see how far the band has come with the release of this album.

The biggest difference is obviously the production, which is much slicker this time around, allowing more freedom for all the beats and riffs to roam and show themselves how strong they are. This does mean that the band do not get the opportunity to create another dark and eerie record like the last one, but they do take full advantage of what they have, giving "The Link" a life of its own. It is still a little stiff in its performance, but it does its job well enough.

The (sorta) improved production also helps in making each track stand out more, and we got ourselves a hand full of impressive treats. "Remembrance" makes quite an entrance with its fast paced groovy rhythm that has a nice mix of crazy double bass and tribe like riffs that puts you in a headbanging voodoo trance. That middle part especially is the first taste of true Gojira magic, but not the last, because "Indians" shifts tempo with impressive precision, "Wisdom Comes" crushes with no mercy, and "Embrace The World" does a little of everything right.

Every member of the band also goes in the right direction. Mario's drumming is tighter, Joe and Christian's guitars show off more techniques, Jean-Michel's bass is more vibrant, and Joe expands his vocal range further. It is a complete team effort that makes "The Link" a natural progression for the band, and while it has its blemishes with a trio of instrumentals (with the best one being the closer "Dawn", which got some cool parts, but is far too long and repetitive), several sluggish parts, and a stagnant production, it still manages to entertain enough to get the listener to the very end. The highlights are high, and the lows are not on an embarrassing level, so "The Link" is definitely not the weakest of its kind.

Songs worthy of recognition: Remembrance, Indians, Embrace The World

Rating: 7/10 Inward Movements

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Gojira - Terra Incognita (2001)

With the famous movie monster Godzilla being all of the rage again, with a new movie out right now, it feels more than fitting to start cover a band who is named after the King of Monsters, the French death metal group Gojira. The band may have become their own type of monster in the metal world, but at the beginning of their career, they were small, broke, and had no clue on how to release a record. No, seriously, to create their debut record "Terra Incognita", they went to Belgium twice (one trip for recording, one for mixing), then just sent all printed copies to their own home, from where they would be distributed to magazines, radio stations, and other parties who could spread the word. Oh yeah, they also did this without a record deal at hand. Love the commitment, but that was not smart in any way.

What did we get from this hassle though? Well, "Terra Incognita" (latin for unknown land) is certainly a curious death metal record that the people in 2001 probably never saw coming. It is a strange and dark journey into the psyche of a mentally disturbed human, one where we encounter countless riffs, blasts, screams, and beats that can easily scramble your brain into a mush. From today's perspective, this album is definitely Gojira to the core, it has that special technique to it that only this band can produce. You got these chugging riffs from Christian Andreu and Joe Duplantier that seem very alien like, on the verge of not being from this very Earth, and it is fascinating to behold. Add the intricate drum patterns by Joe's brother Mario, and the pounding bass of Jean-Michel Labadie, and you got some unique metal at your disposal.

There is something primal about this record that makes it quite intriguing. A lot of dark, ambient noises help in setting the mood, creating an unsettling atmosphere that crawls underneath your skin. It does muddle up the sound though quite a bit, and at points it is at an disadvantage, but still works most of the way. Songs like "Rise", "Space Time", and "Lizard Skin" are just wonderfully disturbing. The brutality is there as well, especially in the opener "Clone" where the drums are going buck wild, and the guitars are majestic in their heavy approach, both in the faster and slower parts. Other nice bone crushing songs include "Fire Is Everything", "Deliverance", and "Blow Me Away You - Niverse".

While there is a lot of good stuff in "Terra Incognita", there is also a lot of unnecessary padding. This album goes over the hour mark, and it angers me because it only does so thanks to all the fillers in here. One perfect example of this padding is the closer "In The Forest", a perfectly good track that ends around the 5 minute mark, only to transition into a strange instrumental that adds squat (and if you had the original version of the album, you had to wait 3 and a half minutes to hear this "hidden track"). I understand that these interludes are there to enhance the atmosphere, but to me they are just in the way for the real music, no matter if they were written for a relative or not ("04" was a birthday present to the Duplantier brother's mother, what an odd gift to say the least).

It feels wrong to say that I enjoyed my experience with "Terra Incognita", because its purpose is to make you uneasy, to bring out your inner demons, and I think it succeeds fairly well. It is a dark, strange record that still showed everyone what a force Gojira could become, with a unique sound and style that no one has heard before. This album has some issues for sure, but it has enough juicy nuggets to get you hooked into the band. Definitely worth a double trip to Belgium.

Songs worthy of recognition: Clone, Space Time, Fire Is Everything


Rating: 7/10 Lizard Skins

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Magma

Gojira - Magma (2016)

Being one of the most anticipated records of this year, Gojira had a lot to live up to with the release of "Magma", their 6th full length album of their career. The Frenchmen have gained immense fame during the last couple of years, and established itself as one of the premier metal bands out there. Their last album, the 2012 effort "L'Enfant Sauvage", was a stunning record that took everyone, including me, by storm, so it was safe to say that the expectations for "Magma" were quite high.

As soon as the album started, my jaw dropped, but not for the reason you might think. "The Shooting Star" opens up the album, and it is a very different song from what we are used to with Gojira. It is calm, spiritual, and singer Joe Duplantier only uses his clean vocals. It is a start that does set the tone of the album, because "Magma" is possibly the most experimental album of the band's career. They have always had that little Tool inspiration in their music, and that part gets more attention than usual. I think it is a interesting way to go, it certainly changes the dynamics of the band, but I am pretty sure that "Magma" will divide a lot of the fans.

Fortunately, we do have some familiar material in "Magma" that makes this sudden transition a little easier. The common Gojira fan will definitely love "Silvera", a tune that displays everything that the band stands for. It has heavy riffs, polyrhythmic beats that twist your mind, and a aggression that will make The Hulk seem like a Buddhist monk. The lyrics deliver too, expressing that the only way to change the world is to start with yourself. Oh, I almost forgot about the solo, which is both frantic and epic. Dear god, I am truly in love with this song.

Some good aggression can also be found on the first single "Stranded", even if it already got a stamp as a "sellout" track, plus "The Cell" and "Only Pain", two songs that delivers some sweet drum beats by Mario Duplantier. Among the calmer songs, I find the title track to be the only one that I truly enjoy, because the band succeeds in creation a mood that is hauntingly beautiful. Those screeching guitars could potentially hurt your ears if played at a high volume, but they fit so well in this song that I do not mind if I get tinnitus from it. I have to admit though, the songs sounds a lot like something Mastodon would make, especially on the more normal guitar tones.

While the album is a grower, I always ended up feeling a little empty when it all ended. "Magma" had potential, but the band did not maximize the space that they had. I find it highly unnecessary that the end of the album is a three and a half minute long beatnik session. If we take that away (plus the one minute interlude in the middle of the album), we end up with roughly 38 minutes of material, in other words, quite a short album. That's it! That is why I felt empty every time, because I want more Gojira, more crunchy riffs, more polyrhythmic time signatures, and more experimentation. Four long years of wait, and I get this little? That is a pretty big let down.

The best way to describe "Magma" is that it is interesting, but not fully impressive. The band is up to something, but are yet to arrive at their goal. See this as a new chapter to the story of Gojira, because even if this is far from the best album Gojira has made, it is still pretty darn good. However, it is short, and the song material is unpolished, so even if this album has several good sides, it also has some ugly ones that makes it hard to swallow. You should at least try this album, since it is another statement that Gojira is one of the best and most technical bands from the 21st century. It is definitely not as hot as lava, but it has its warm moments.

Songs worthy of recognition: Silvera, The Cell, Magma

Rating: 7/10 Low Lands