Gojira

Srogyy

Ancient Mariner
One of my very few favourites right after Maiden. Bands rarely 'stay' with me for good, but Gojira certainly did. Unique sound, atmosphere, approach, art direction... They are simply second to none and that's something I really appreciate in music.

New album is coming in spring. The wait is killing me... Here are two teasers:


Interesting excerpts from an interview about the new album:
On Silver Cord, the recording studio GOJIRA recently built in New York:

Joseph: "We built the studio around this next GOJIRA record. You know, each time we make a record, we have to think: 'What's gonna be the configuration?' 'Who are we going to work with?' 'Who's gonna be the engineer?' 'Who's gonna be the producer?' 'Who's gonna mix it?' And this time the big question was: 'Where are we going to settle down and write and record?' Since I moved to New York a couple of years ago, now we have two headquarters. With the studio, now we have a headquarters in America. We have our French headquarter where we always rehearsed and composed our stuff. So now we have another one. That's, I think, what we needed at this point. 'Cause it's good to have two different places. And this studio is… At first, we just wanted to find a room and make it nice and buy the minimum to just be able to record. But, thanks to some of my friends' help, especially a friend of mine who lives in Atlanta, who has a lot of gear. He said, 'You can have my gear' for, like, two years or something, because he's not gonna use his studio for awhile. So, anyway, I got a lot of support from that guy, which allowed us to use the advance of the record company to build a real studio, and working a lot ourselves. I mean, Mario and me putting fiber glass for days, for weeks, and carrying… I mean, it was crazy. In the middle of the process, we were, like, 'What the fuck are we doing?' But in the end, it's a beautiful studio. And we did the drum tracks already, the recording of the drums, and it sounds really good, really perfect."

On the progress of the recording sessions for the new GOJIRA album:

Mario: "The drums are done. Part of the guitars… almost all the guitars are done also. So we need the bass and the vocals at this point. Because… We were supposed to record around February, something like this. But we made a statement of the songs in February, and we thought the songs were not enough good, you know?! So we decided to… 'Let's put this song in the trash. Let's just…' We were super picky, like [we] never [were] in the past. We worked on each song super long. Usually we have ten songs, and we record ten songs and that's it. This time we were so picky that we decided around February to just… 'Let's push the limit. Let's do another song — maybe a better song.' And Joe brought some crazy ideas, and I brought some cool ideas too, and together we built four new songs we thought were better than the [ones were had already written]. So we pushed the recording process and finally we started in April. So it's why we couldn't finish everything — because we had this tour also. It's a summer tour planned — three months on the road. So we had two options: we can cancel the summer tour, but we didn't wanna do that. So, finally, we did the drums and the guitar."

On when fans can expect to see the next GOJIRA album:

Joseph: "We're thinking early next year. We were aiming for October this year, but, like Mario said, we had to push the recording. I think the difficulty was… Mario brought a lot of ideas on the table… very challenging drum patterns. It's less complicated than before. It's more… I wanna say it's more straight to the point. That's what we were doing since we started. We're getting rid of layers and complicated things, just to keep the core of the idea. There's always an idea behind a song, and sometimes it gets too crowded. So we're trying to keep the core of each idea. So the energy that Mario has, it's a big signature for our band, GOJIRA — the drum patterns and the double-kick stuff. And I have my own impulse. So it's mainly Mario and me composing… I think the fans know that. And one of the biggest difficulties is to come together on these songs and to create something that, okay, we both feel like, 'This is it. This is the song.' It took a while to get there. Sometimes, on previous albums, Mario wouldn't be totally satisfied — like three [or] four songs — and for me, I [would be] like, 'Eh, this song is just like a drum solo with guitars on it.' And this time, I think we really found something — a balance. [It's] very powerful and exciting. We're very excited about the new record."

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/go...w-album-for-2016-release/#VxFDW6vqeVULfx6G.99

This is going to be huge... They changed their approach to this album a couple of times, which resulted in some delays. Good sign, probably. Perfectionism pays off.

How about you? Do you like them? Are you looking forward to the new album? What are your favourite songs/albums so far?
 
I don't really rate first two albums... I think they were still finding their style with them.

From Mars To Sirius is perfect from start to finish.

L'Enfant Sauvage is better than The Way Of All Flesh - it's a bit more cohesive and varied, TWOAF could've been a bit shorter.

Saw them twice live in May and June in 2012... Kicked ass even though they were the opening band both times. Pretty much one of the best live bands at the moment.

Favorite songs...

 
I wasn't into the first two as well, but they grew on me a lot. They are for sure the least approachable, but there's a lot of good, heavy stuff going on there. I agree with what you wrote about TWoAF vs L'ES, but still can't decide which of them is my favourite... TWoAF has my favourite tracks, but L'ES is more equal.

My ranking would probably be like this:
1. L'Enfant Sauvage and The Way of All Flesh
2. From Mars to Sirius
3. Terra Incognita
4. The Link (still amazing, of course)

Favourite tracks:
...and many more, but these two really stand out.

By the way, let me plug something that some of you might have missed:
Interesting stuff.
 
Havent listened to them much but a mate is a big fan and convinced me to go see them live in a club. They totally blew my mind, great live band. Still havent gave the albums much time though
 
I have seen them opening for Metallica in 2012 and they were almost the pinnacle of the evening (also helped by the fact that the second opening act were Machine Head with seriously fucked up sound;however, the stupid Czech crowd nearly booed them off, pissing me and my wife both off). I really enjoyed them, but I have yet to give their albums a spin. Oh, wait, I think I listened to From Mars to Sirius on Spotify and I remember liking it, but it's been a while.

Still, I can definitely attest they kick ass live.
 
Heh, I also saw them opening for Machine Head/Metallica and MH also had fucked up sound. And there were also some tr00 thrashers booing Gojira <_<
 
I haven't seen them live although they like coming to my country... Their club shows must be amazing (festivals never do justice). I only wish there weren't so many 'metalheads' at these gigs :p I guess the mosh pit spreads across half the venue...
 
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I haven't seen them live although they like coming to my country... Their club shows must be amazing (festivals never do justice). I only wish there weren't so many 'metalheads' at these gigs :p I guess the mosh pit spreads across half the venue...

There was a sizeable pit when I seen them but also alot of people completely absorbed in the show (great lights). I switched between the two, I cant resist a good pit!
 
ojira-from-mars-to-sirius-10th-anniversary-box-pre-order.jpg

GOJIRA 'From Mars to Sirius' 10TH ANNIVERSARY box PRE ORDER
The box content :
- Exclusive cassette of 'From Mars to Sirius' - only available in this box.
- 4 never revealed prints of Joe Duplantier 's sketches made before the final cover art
- Exclusive artwork flag with one of those sketches
- Exclusive guitar From Mars to Sirius pick
- First 500 buyers will get a postcard that will allow them to participate to a contest which prize is an Exclusive guitar displaying 'From Mars to Sirius' artwork all over its body.
All postcards should be sent to LISTENABLE and a winner will be picked at random by the band during Spring 2016.
RELEASE DATE : 12/02/16

http://www.shop-listenable.net/en/h...to-sirius-10th-anniversary-box-pre-order.html
 
How about you? Do you like them?
To me their music comes across as randomly constructed work, with many interchangeble parts. It lacks grabbing musical elements, apart from the drummer who is cool. I am not a fan of such vocals. Their style is called unusual, but there are all kinds of bands to be heard. Meshuggah and Tool are dominant. Gojira's cause, their concern for environment is good. Maybe that is the most original side of this band.

edit:
Duplantier in 2012:
We have a desire to get rid of our influences. Of course we don't want to get rid of it but we want to find our own signature and our own energy. We're still completely influenced by all the bands we grew up with but at the same time we believe we have something personal to express. The more we get rid of these layers [the more we can sound like ourselves.] This technical part in the music sometimes is attractive because it can be very impressive and a demonstration of technique or something like that
Good luck! Well to be frank, it's strong when an artist not only sees this but also publicly admits this. Who knows what happens on the new album! I'll check it for sure. That drummer is really cool. Not sure if I understood well but I think he is the basis for (much of) the material. It starts often with his improvisations.
 
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They don't really seem like something you'd like; lots of repetition, focus on riffs rather than melodies, no solos.
 
Correct. Although I like several death metal bands being cool enough without (interesting) solos. But indeed, usually I am not a huge fan of repetitive and monotone music. Still, I hear their strong points and am willing to hear the new work.
 
@Forostar Sounds like you're just not into this kind of stuff. But have you heard L'Enfant Sauvage? It has definitely more 'musical elements' than their earlier records.
We have a desire to get rid of our influences. Of course we don't want to get rid of it but we want to find our own signature and our own energy. We're still completely influenced by all the bands we grew up with but at the same time we believe we have something personal to express.
Good quote, I hope they're still on the same page. That's what I want to get - 100% personality, no homages. I hate when bands overemphasise their influences.
 
Awesome drumming! Those breaks. :eek: And indeed a catchy melody!

What's also very cool is that these are together since their debut album.
 
I like Gojira. Also really like their lyrics. But I must admit it's kind of odd seeing a band who released their debut album in 2001 put out a "anniversary edition" of an album only ten years old. Cool for the fans though I'm sure :)
 
Yeah. Opeth is doing that a lot as well, aren't they?
Yea, they have BWP and Still Life 10th anniversary editions. I have both and they're pretty awesome, so I don't mind it. I'm surprised they didn't do one for Ghost Reveries last year.

I like Gojira. I don't know them particularly well but I enjoy what I've heard. It's chaotic but musically more interesting than, say, Grindcore. The Mars To Sirius box looks interesting and reasonably priced, if shipping isn't too bad I might check it out.
 
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