Gojira

[NunoTenniscourt]

I got it today, and it's great, but I can already hear review channels on Youtube shitting on it for being too melodic. It's even more melodic than "Magma", actually. For some reason, there are people who don't believe melodic and heavy can coexist.

[fadetoblackdude7]

I got it today, and it's great, but I can already hear review channels on Youtube shitting on it for being too melodic. It's even more melodic than "Magma", actually. For some reason, there are people who don't believe melodic and heavy can coexist.

I feel sorry for those people

[cramx3]

If they don't like it because it's melodic, fine, but if they don't like it because they think melodic can't be heavy, well I disagree.  Personally I need melody in my music, so this seems like something I'll enjoy.

[NunoTenniscourt]

If they don't like it because it's melodic, fine, but if they don't like it because they think melodic can't be heavy, well I disagree.  Personally I need melody in my music, so this seems like something I'll enjoy.

Yes, that's generally what they believe, melodic can't be heavy, which I think is absurd. There are definitely some surprising melodic moments on this new album, especially the song "The Trails". I can't really think of anything else they've done that's quite like it.

[The Curious Orange]

Getting some mainstram coverage in the Guardian, of all place:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/apr/30/nature-is-hurting-gojira-the-metal-band-confronting-the-climate-crisis

[twosuitsluke]

Getting some mainstram coverage in the Guardian, of all place:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/apr/30/nature-is-hurting-gojira-the-metal-band-confronting-the-climate-crisis

Love it!

My first impressions of Fortitude are really strong. You know when you go into an album feeling confident that you are just going to dig it. This is where I am at and after one listen, I think this delivers!

[ariich]

Getting some mainstram coverage in the Guardian, of all place:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/apr/30/nature-is-hurting-gojira-the-metal-band-confronting-the-climate-crisis

I saw that this morning, really good article too.

Just one listen so far and I'm really digging it. I find this band so much more interesting now they have a more melodic edge. L'enfant sauvage was good, but I didn't love it, and what I've heard from before that just doesn't really do it for me. But Magma was great and I could even see Fortitude being my favourite potentially.

[Lonk]

Just listened to the album. On first run through it, I like it. Enjoyable tracks throughout, very similar vibe to Magma.

[CDrice]

I also listened to it once right now and I also quite enjoyed it! It defintely feels like a continuation of Magma while also bringing some elements from their older albums back. I won't say that Fortitude and The Chant are my favorites, but they are the ones that stood out to me just because they have a different feel to what the band has made before.

[PixelDream]

I also listened to it once right now and I also quite enjoyed it! It defintely feels like a continuation of Magma while also bringing some elements from their older albums back. I won't say that Fortitude and The Chant are my favorites, but they are the ones that stood out to me just because they have a different feel to what the band has made before.

Well said, I agree with all of this.

I started to worry just a bit after Into the Storm got released.. that chorus is easily the band's most blatant attempt at sing-along dramatics and there's also a few transitions that just don't seem to gel together all that well.

But I've listened to the album 4-5 times now and I absolutely love it and Into the Storm is growing on me as well. Another great album by probably the best metal band on the planet right now.

[kaos2900]

I really dig Gojira musically, but this is an example of where the vocals just prevent me from really getting into them.

[Lonk]

Alright second run, like it a lot, a little bit of everything that makes them who they are.

Really like The Chant, probably my favorite from the album. But man I wish they would have worked on that solo a little more 

[cramx3]

One full listen and I enjoyed it. Definitely feels similar to magma. The drumming really gets me, so damn good and interesting.

[CDrice]

I have a few more listens and I still like it a lot. I'm actually surprised by how time goes by when listening to it in full. Every time Grind comes up I'm like I feel like I heard Born for One Thing just ten minutes ago 

I started to worry just a bit after Into the Storm got released.. that chorus is easily the band's most blatant attempt at sing-along dramatics

Oddly enough I feel like it might be the weakest chorus on the album. I feel like the three other singles, Hold On and Sphinx have much more memorable and sing-along choruses that I actually want to sing along to. Hell give me the Oh melody in The Chant over Into the Storm chorus 

[Buddyhunter1]

The first half of the album is some of the band's strongest material in a while, but things take a nosedive for me with The Chant and everything after that point just feels kinda there. Unfortunately I think the biggest thing this record has in common with Magma is that the first few singles ended up being the best songs on the album by a pretty considerable margin.

[fadetoblackdude7]

After 4 or 5 listens the favorite for me so far is Hold On. Killer track!

[Buddyhunter1]

It's not one of their absolute best, but I think this is definitely their best record since The Way Of All Flesh. Less filler than L'Enfant Sauvage and more consistent than Magma.

[Lonk]

Just got an email with tour dates. Meh, just realized the date I could go to lands in the middle of the week, so I might not be able to make it:

9/3 - Chattanooga, TN - The Signal
9/20 - Boise, ID - Revolution Center
10/9 - Sacramento, CA - Aftershock
10/11 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Union
10/13 - Kansas City, MO - Arvest Bank Theatre at The Midland
10/14 - Wichita, KS - The Cotillion
10/15 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
10/17 - New Orleans, LA - Civic Theatre
10/19 - Tampa, FL - Jannus Live
10/20 - Orlando, FL - Hard Rock Live
10/22 - Nashville, TN - Marathon Music Works
10/23 - Asheville, NC - Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
10/25 - Albany, NY - Upstate Concert Hall
10/27 - Portland, ME - State Theatre
10/28 - Rochester, NY - Main Street Armory
10/29 - Cleveland, OH - The Agora

[cramx3]

That is their headline tour, they are also slated to still open for Deftones in August/September.

I'm planning on going to the Asbury Park NJ show 8/28 assuming it happens.

[El Barto]

That is their headline tour, they are also slated to still open for Deftones in August/September.

I'm planning on going to the Asbury Park NJ show 8/28 assuming it happens.

I dig the Deftones a lot, but I'd much rather see a headlining show. Possible the Albany show winds up a trip I was already mulling over. Venue looks like an abandoned Tru-Value Hardware store. 

[cramx3]

That is their headline tour, they are also slated to still open for Deftones in August/September.

I'm planning on going to the Asbury Park NJ show 8/28 assuming it happens.

I dig the Deftones a lot, but I'd much rather see a headlining show. Possible the Albany show winds up a trip I was already mulling over. Venue looks like an abandoned Tru-Value Hardware store. 

I'd rather a headline show as well, I'm not really into the Deftones but that Albany show is about the closest for a headline show for me, and honestly, Albany kind of sucks.  The only time I've ever been kicked out of a bar 

[cramx3]

Really like the album, but I must say that Fortitude/The Chant is really not my thing.  Not because it's melodic, it's just so damn repetitive, I'm bored before the real song even begins.  Other than that, I've got no complaints.  Amazonia or Grind may be my favorite tracks so far.

[Moor]

Enjoying this album so much!
The vibes, the sound in general, the riffing, the guitar solos (which are few) and even the album cover, all take me in one direction: MASTODON    Is it just me?

[NunoTenniscourt]

Really like the album, but I must say that Fortitude/The Chant is really not my thing.  Not because it's melodic, it's just so damn repetitive, I'm bored before the real song even begins.

Yep. I pretty much feel the same way. I think if there could have been something more to this song to break up the monotony, it could have been really good.

[Lonk]

I feel completely different about The Chant.

I like the simplicity and repetitive chorus. It could have benefitted from cutting down a few repetitions towards the end, but I still think it works (generally speaking). The verses sound almost the same as The Shooting Star, which is a song I like as well, so maybe it's just the similarities attracting me to it.

[twosuitsluke]

Fortitude (the song) is like a modern day, tribal Planet Caravan.

Standout tracks so far are Born for One Thing, Hold On and Into the Storm! Not sure if this will be my #1 album of the year, but I know I can't stop spinning it!

[Buddyhunter1]

The Way Of All Flesh
Terra Incognita
From Mars To Sirius
Fortitude
Magma
L’Enfant Sauvage
The Link

[cramx3]

Fortitude #1 on Billboard, absolutely amazing 

[N4Player]

Fortitude an easy favourite of theirs for me. Did not start to notice them until L'Enfant Sauvage, Magma increased my fandom tenfold and now Fortitude has knocked it out of the park. I'm not one for the death metal stuff TBH. Tremendous songwriting and Mario and Jean-Michel, wow. Hold On, Another World, The Chant, Into the Storm, The Trails, and Grind are killer and on a constant loop. The only 2 songs that haven't quite clicked are New Found & Sphinx. The others are great. Definitely an album I can hit the repeat button on and enjoy for a while to come. So thrilled to see them kicking ass on the charts, they deserve it. Hope to see them live for the first time in the near future. I don't just wish there were more bands like them, I wish there were more people like them too. Joe Duplantier is on another level.

[Moor]

Fortitude an easy favourite of theirs for me. Did not start to notice them until L'Enfant Sauvage, Magma increased my fandom tenfold and now Fortitude has knocked it out of the park. I'm not one for the death metal stuff TBH. Tremendous songwriting and Mario and Jean-Michel, wow. Hold On, Another World, The Chant, Into the Storm, The Trails, and Grind are killer and on a constant loop. The only 2 songs that haven't quite clicked are New Found & Sphinx. The others are great. Definitely an album I can hit the repeat button on and enjoy for a while to come. So thrilled to see them kicking ass on the charts, they deserve it. Hope to see them live for the first time in the near future. I don't just wish there were more bands like them, I wish there were more people like them too. Joe Duplantier is on another level.

Couldn't agree more ! Well said 

[Buddyhunter1]

Sphinx is a bit generic for their standards but New Found is great. I love that outro.

[bosk1]

Haven't gotten into this band at all from whatever I have heard in the past, but the Grammy thread got me listening to Amazonia, and I dig it.  Stumbled on their live set from Bloodstock after Magma was released, and that was actually pretty good too.  They remind me of kind of a mid-tempo Testament, which is a really cool sound.  Overall, from listening to the new album and that live set, I like their sound a lot.  Biggest sticking point for me is the lyrical content, which from what I looked up is so laughably bad that I guess I'll have to put them in the same category as Epica:  A band where I LOVE their sound, but just pretend the lyrics don't exist. 

As for the Grammy's, I am imagining the committee discussion went something like this:  "Okay, metal category...let's see what we've got...  Hey, this Gojira song sounds pretty good.  It's heavy, and groovy, and...wait a minute!  What the--??  Wait!  Is that...is that guy playing a Telecaster?  This IS the metal category, right?  OK, screw that, we can't give an award in metal to a band that plays a Tele.  That's just all kinds of wrong!  Who else we got?  Rob Zombie?  Eh...I think he'll kind of freak out all the middle-aged moms.  Who else?  Dream Theater...hey, didn't they have that Pull Me Under song awhile ago?  Yeah, let's give it to them.  I'm sure they've done some cool stuff since then."

[twosuitsluke]

I find Gojira's lyrics to be one of the things I love most about them! They are singing about environmentalism and anti-capitalism! It makes them really unique and I can connect with their lyrics more than the generic lyrics most metal bands churn out!

Everyone has their opinions and all but this one truly baffles me. Can you give some examples of the lyrics you find ridiculous?

[Tomislav95]

I find Gojira's lyrics to be one of the things I love most about them! That are singing about environmentalism and anti-capitalism! It makes them really unique and I can connect with their lyrics more than the generic lyrics most metal bands churn out!

Everyone has their opinions and all but this one truly baffles me. Can you give some examples of the lyrics you find ridiculous?

Same. I find them unique for metal genre. Global Warming has some of my favorite lyrics ever.

[bosk1]

I find Gojira's lyrics to be one of the things I love most about them! They are singing about environmentalism and anti-capitalism! It makes them really unique and I can connect with their lyrics more than the generic lyrics most metal bands churn out!

Everyone has their opinions and all but this one truly baffles me. Can you give some examples of the lyrics you find ridiculous?

I could give examples, but in more broad terms, the bolded in your post nailed it already.  Although as to the first one, I would slightly modify that to "environmental activism," which is more where their lyrics seem to lean, and also sometimes with a touch of spiritualism tied to that environmental activism, which just takes it over the top.  To me, "environmentalism" means being a good steward of the environment, which I feel we ALL have an obligation to do in varying degrees.  Environmental activism takes it to an absurd extreme that I can never get behind, and often entails a set of beliefs that are destructive and stupid.