Gojira

All Music Guide:

Taking their name from the original Japanese pronunciation of Godzilla, French heavy metal quartet Gojira have risen from utmost obscurity during the first half of their career to widespread global recognition in the second, including regular mention amongst the genre's leading new millennium upstarts. Originating from the town of Bayonne, on France's southernmost Atlantic Ocean coastline, Gojira recorded the first in a sequence of almost yearly demos in 1996, gradually honing their sound until the year 2000, when bandmembers Joe Duplantier (vocals/guitar), Christian Andreu (guitar), Jean-Michel Labadie (bass), and Mario Duplantier (drums), felt ready to record their first album, Terra Incognita, relying solely on their own devices. And despite its independent status, the aptly named LP made significant waves with its unpredictable blend of death, thrash, groove, progressive, and math metal -- recalling bands as diverse as Pantera, Meshuggah, Suffocation and Sepultura. Still, it took several years (and a curious detour into soundtrack music on 2003's Maciste All Inferno EP) for the metal world to catch on, and even Gojira's second album, The Link, had to be released through tiny independent, Boycott Records, before being reissued by Listenable. (This was followed by 2004's The Link Alive live album and DVD, whose audio component was limited to 500 copies -- a parting shot for Boycott.) Now finally gathering steam, Gojira saw their third full-length, From Mars to Sirius, enter the French charts at number 44, while collecting the most enthusiastic reviews of their career -- a level of acclaim that led, in turn, to numerous key European festival appearances, and lengthy European and North American tours with bands like Obituary, Hatesphere, Children of Bodom, and Machine Head, to name but a few. By the end of the album's long promotional cycle, Gojira were widely acknowledged as a force to be reckoned with, on-stage and in the studio, and their much anticipated fourth LP, The Way of All Flesh (released stateside by Prosthetic Records), made a strong showing by debuting at number 138 on the American charts, in October 2008. The extensive touring schedule which Gojira then undertook meant that fans would have to wait nearly four years for the band’s next studio album, although they did get the expansive The Flesh Alive DVD set to tide them over. In 2012 the band moved up to the big league, signing to major label Roadrunner for the release of L’Enfant Sauvage (“The Wild Child”).

Wikipedia:

Gojira is a French metal band from Bayonne. Formed in 1996, the band was known as Godzilla until 2001. Gojira is composed of Joe Duplantier on vocals and rhythm guitar, his brother Mario Duplantier on drums, Christian Andreu on lead guitar and Jean-Michel Labadie on bass. Since their first studio album, Gojira has had no changes in lineup, written five studio albums and produced two live DVDs. They are known for their environmentally-themed lyrics and have gone from "utmost obscurity" to being mentioned regularly "amongst the genre's leading new millennium upstarts", according to Allmusic.

History [edit]

Early years and Terra Incognita (1996−2002) [edit]

Gojira are from Ondres, France, a village close to Bayonne. Gojira's music combines elements of Death metal, Groove metal, Thrash metal and Progressive metal. The band started touring and recording under the name Godzilla and released their demos Victim, Possessed, and Saturate in 1996, 1997, and 1999, respectively. After touring, supporting Cannibal Corpse, Edge of Sanity, Impaled Nazarene and supporting Immortal in September 1999, legal problems forced Godzilla to change their name. They changed their name to Gojira, the rōmaji spelling of the fictional monster Godzilla. Their last demo, Wisdom Comes, and their debut album Terra Incognita were released under the new name in 2000 and 2001, respectively.

The Link and From Mars to Sirius (2003−2007) [edit]

The band released their second studio album in 2003, The Link (reissued in 2007 with remastered audio and new booklet artwork). After the success of the first two albums and their live performances they made a DVD in Bordeaux produced by Gabriel Editions. Since May 19, 2004, The Link Alive has been on sale in France. In 2005, Gojira decided to sign with French-based Listenable Records to help give them exposure outside of France with the album From Mars to Sirius.

Gojira was featured on Children of Bodom's US tour in late 2006, joining Amon Amarth and Sanctity as the openers. Furthermore, Gojira supported Trivium on the UK dates of their European tour in 2007 with Sanctity and Annihilator. Later they supported Lamb of God on their 2007 American tour along with Trivium and Machine Head. In late 2007 they took part in the Radio Rebellion Tour, featuring co-headliners Behemoth and Job for a Cowboy, as well as Beneath the Massacre. In October 2007, Listenable Records re-released Gojira's 1997 demo Possessed in a limited edition.

The Way of All Flesh (2008−2010) [edit]

The Way of All Flesh was released on October 13 in Europe via Listenable Records and October 14 in North America through Prosthetic Records in 2008. On July 25, 2008, the band announced the track listing and revealed the final cover art for the record. Joe Duplantier told Revolver magazine, "I would say that it's the logical next album. It's more intense, more brutal, and more melodic at the same time — it's more everything! I'm very happy with the new songs and the recording is very good. I think it was a good thing for us to come to the States to work with Logan [Mader] on the drum tracking because it really brought something — it's more tight, it's more powerful. I'm very positive about the new production, and even the writing is more straight to the point, more one tempo. We still have a lot of double bass, very fast, and at the same time there are melodies." Joe Duplantier also stated about the album: "This record is a lot darker — like, a lot darker, I would say. The music is darker and more violent." The album will be "more intense, more brutal, and more melodic" than its predecessor. "That's the theme — it's about death itself," he explained. "It's also about the immortality of the soul. That's the main subject for us". Randy Blythe from the American band Lamb of God appeared as a guest vocalist on the song "Adoration for None" The album took four months to write and record, and three months to mix. On March 17, 2009, the band's first North American headlining tour was announced. Opening bands were The Chariot and Car Bomb. Gojira accompanied Metallica on their tour September 14 - October 18, performing before Lamb of God. Gojira entered a Los Angeles, California-area studio in early November, 2010, with producer Logan Mader to begin recording a new non-profit four-song EP, the proceeds from which will benefit Sea Shepherd, an anti-whaling organization. According to Joe Duplantier, the EP will feature guest appearances from the international metal scene.

L'Enfant Sauvage, Sea Shepherd EP & DVD (2011–present) [edit]

As a preview of their Sea Shepherd EP, Gojira released the song "Of Blood And Salt" in May 2011, featuring Devin Townsend as a guest vocalist and a guest guitar solo performed by Fredrik Thordendal. Mario Duplantier talks about the collaboration with Devin Townsend:

They were acquired by Roadrunner Records. and released L'Enfant Sauvage on 4 April, 2012 on that label. The title translates to "The Wild Child." The album features 11 tracks, and was released on 26 June, 2012.

The title song "L'Enfant Sauvage" was released as a single along with a video to support it followed by a release of the song "Liquid Fire" as free download on Gojira's official website. The album was released June 26, 2012 through Roadrunner Records.

Joe Duplantier discusses Sea Shepherd:

On February 8, 2013, Joe talked about the EP Sea Shepherd and commented:

Gojira to release DVD filmed at London’s Brixton Academy

In a recent interview with Metal XS, Joe Duplantier, revealed that the concert on March 24 at the O2 Academy Brixton in London, England was professionally filmed for DVD release. Joe Duplantier said:

Side projects [edit]

Joe Duplantier was invited by the founders of influential Brazilian band Sepultura, brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, to join their new band Cavalera Conspiracy as a bassist. The album Inflikted was released in March 2008 and a tour followed in mid-2008. Also, the Duplantier brothers formed an avant-garde metal band called Empalot in 1998, starring Stéphane Chateauneuf, who appears in The Link Alive DVD's short show called "Thang & Tanguy" (the episodes are on YouTube). Their first release was a demo album called Brout, in 1998. Two albums followed: Tous aux cèpes in 2001 and a live CD called Empalot en Concert.

Musical style and lyrical themes [edit]

Gojira's sound is not easily classifiable as they blend several styles. Genres that have been associated with Gojira are technical death metal, thrash metal and progressive metal. Gojira has been influenced by metal artists such as Sepultura, Death, Morbid Angel, Meshuggah, Tool, Metallica, Pantera, and Neurosis.

Gojira plays a technical and rhythmic style of heavy metal with precision drumming, unusual rhythm patterns, and start-and-stop riffs. Gojira has also been known to incorporate textured atmospheric elements and instrumental songs into their music. Gojira songs have progressive and uncommon song structures, rarely using the standard verse, chorus, verse songwriting. The vocal style is varied, ranging from the screamed style often employed in extreme metal, with the death growl style predominantly used in death metal, in addition to clean vocals and higher screams. At times, death metal growls and clean vocals are mixed to create an aggressive but melodic effect.

The members of the band were raised in Bayonne, a city on the south west coast of France (Pyrénées-Atlantiques/French Basque Country). The surrounding scenic countryside and rugged coastline inspired Gojira's interest in nature and the earth. Gojira uses its lyrics to spread its spiritual beliefs and concerns for the environment. They also cooperate with Sea Shepherd to protect marine animals, especially dolphins, whales and sharks. Members from Sea Shepherd are allowed to run a merchandise booth at Gojira gigs. In addition, they are working on a music project together with well known musicians from the metal scene, like e.g. Devin Townsend. All proceeds from that project will be transformed to the benefit of the organisation.