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| Copyright © 2003 - 2008 Eric Jehlen. All rights reserved. |
Joseph Duplantier (Vocals, Guitar)
Jean Michel Labadie (Bass)
Christian Audreu (Guitar)
Mario Duplantier (Drums)
It has always been hard to put a tag on GOJIRA, one of France’s most extreme
bands the country’s musical pallet has ever known. But then again, the band has
never really sought out such a tag, instead letting the music do the talking,
preferring introspection and intelligence over preconceived notions and preexisting
tags. Ever since the 1996 formation in town of Bayonne in the southwest of France,
GOJIRA has been an ever-evolving experiment in extreme metal ultimately built
upon a worldly, ever-conscious outlook with roots firmly-planted both in the hippie
movement and an environmentally-conscious, new age mentality. This time, with The
Way of All Flesh, GOJIRA harnesses a spiritual consciousness as well, but still
culminates in a sound wholly heavy.
Originally dubbed Godzilla, after the scaly, green film star with an equally huge
reputation as the newfound band’s sound, the brothers Duplantier –
guitarist/vocalist Joe and drummer Mario – and fellow Frenchmen Michel Labadie
on bass and Christian Andreu on guitar, quickly released several demos, ultimately
changing the band’s name and independently releasing the first GOJIRA album,
Terra Incognita, in 2001, offering up a brief glimpse into the giant GOJIRA would
eventually become through persistent hard work and years of toiling in the metal
underground.
After the 2003 release of the band’s follow-up, The Link, throughout Europe and
the subsequent live DVD release the next year, of the aptly-titled The Link Alive,
2005 brought the release of From Mars To Sirius, the band’s breakthrough release,
garnering high praise and a North American release through Prosthetic Records in
2006. Fans of not only heavy, extreme music took notice, but so did the intellectual
world, thanks to Sirius’ thoughtful and expansive inner examination of the world at
hand and the consequences of humanity’s struggle to coexist without harm. The
metal world was amused and amazed: much of it hadn’t yet seen an equally
intelligent and pummelingly heavy release that was as expansive and open as it
was dense and concise.
Following the immense praise of From Mars To Sirius and recurring trips across the
Atlantic for North American touring alongside the likes of Lamb of God, Children of
Bodom, and Behemoth among others, GOJIRA established its stranglehold on the
extreme metal spectrum with a linguist’s touch, a lyricist’s finesse, and a crushingly
heavy live show that left audiences astounded, establishing the band’s live
performance as a spot-on recreation of the band’s increasingly adept and
intelligent studio output.
While 2007 wrapped with GOJIRA again touring North America on the Radio
Rebellion Tour alongside Behemoth to the best reaction yet, the dawn of 2008 saw
a nearly 10 month wait for while the band assembled The Way of All Flesh, one of
the year’s most anticipated records. This time revolving around the undeniable
dilemma of a mortal demise, GOJIRA’s soundtrack to the situation seems fitting.
Shifting ever-so-slightly from the eco-friendly orchestra of impending doom on From
Mars To Sirius to the band’s new message of the equally uncontrollable inevitability
of death, The Way of All Flesh melds the open and airy progressive passages
GOJIRA has become famous for with the sonically dense sounds and bludgeoningly
heavy rhythms that makes the band an equally intelligent force as it is
unmatchably heavy.
Featuring a guest vocal spot on “Adoration For None” from Lamb of God’s Randy
Blythe – one of GOJIRA’s most vocal supporters from their first moment making an
impression in the Americas – and the now familiar Morbid Angel-isms of The Way
Of All Flesh’s title track join the angular riffing more akin to Meshuggah on
“Esoteric Surgery” and the epic, artful plodding of the nearly 10-minute “The Art of
Dying,” showing that GOJIRA have indeed opened a new bag of tricks for The Way
Of All Flesh, while not abandoning the sound that first showed a massive promise of
potential on Sirius.
“It’s more inventive than From Mars To Sirius and at the same time more straight to
the point,” GOJIRA frontman Joe Duplantier says of The Way of All Flesh. “The whole
album is about death, death is like a step on the path of the soul. The mystery
surrounding this phenomenon is just so inspiring, and death is the most common
thing on earth.”
“This album is also a ‘requiem’ for our planet,” Duplantier continues. “We don't
want to be negative or cynical about the fate of humanity, but the situation on
Earth is growing critical, and the way humans behave is so catastrophic that we
really need to express our exasperation about it. It's not fear, but anger. But we still
believe that consciousness can make a difference and that we can change things
as human beings.”
Jean Michel Labadie (Bass)
Christian Audreu (Guitar)
Mario Duplantier (Drums)
It has always been hard to put a tag on GOJIRA, one of France’s most extreme
bands the country’s musical pallet has ever known. But then again, the band has
never really sought out such a tag, instead letting the music do the talking,
preferring introspection and intelligence over preconceived notions and preexisting
tags. Ever since the 1996 formation in town of Bayonne in the southwest of France,
GOJIRA has been an ever-evolving experiment in extreme metal ultimately built
upon a worldly, ever-conscious outlook with roots firmly-planted both in the hippie
movement and an environmentally-conscious, new age mentality. This time, with The
Way of All Flesh, GOJIRA harnesses a spiritual consciousness as well, but still
culminates in a sound wholly heavy.
Originally dubbed Godzilla, after the scaly, green film star with an equally huge
reputation as the newfound band’s sound, the brothers Duplantier –
guitarist/vocalist Joe and drummer Mario – and fellow Frenchmen Michel Labadie
on bass and Christian Andreu on guitar, quickly released several demos, ultimately
changing the band’s name and independently releasing the first GOJIRA album,
Terra Incognita, in 2001, offering up a brief glimpse into the giant GOJIRA would
eventually become through persistent hard work and years of toiling in the metal
underground.
After the 2003 release of the band’s follow-up, The Link, throughout Europe and
the subsequent live DVD release the next year, of the aptly-titled The Link Alive,
2005 brought the release of From Mars To Sirius, the band’s breakthrough release,
garnering high praise and a North American release through Prosthetic Records in
2006. Fans of not only heavy, extreme music took notice, but so did the intellectual
world, thanks to Sirius’ thoughtful and expansive inner examination of the world at
hand and the consequences of humanity’s struggle to coexist without harm. The
metal world was amused and amazed: much of it hadn’t yet seen an equally
intelligent and pummelingly heavy release that was as expansive and open as it
was dense and concise.
Following the immense praise of From Mars To Sirius and recurring trips across the
Atlantic for North American touring alongside the likes of Lamb of God, Children of
Bodom, and Behemoth among others, GOJIRA established its stranglehold on the
extreme metal spectrum with a linguist’s touch, a lyricist’s finesse, and a crushingly
heavy live show that left audiences astounded, establishing the band’s live
performance as a spot-on recreation of the band’s increasingly adept and
intelligent studio output.
While 2007 wrapped with GOJIRA again touring North America on the Radio
Rebellion Tour alongside Behemoth to the best reaction yet, the dawn of 2008 saw
a nearly 10 month wait for while the band assembled The Way of All Flesh, one of
the year’s most anticipated records. This time revolving around the undeniable
dilemma of a mortal demise, GOJIRA’s soundtrack to the situation seems fitting.
Shifting ever-so-slightly from the eco-friendly orchestra of impending doom on From
Mars To Sirius to the band’s new message of the equally uncontrollable inevitability
of death, The Way of All Flesh melds the open and airy progressive passages
GOJIRA has become famous for with the sonically dense sounds and bludgeoningly
heavy rhythms that makes the band an equally intelligent force as it is
unmatchably heavy.
Featuring a guest vocal spot on “Adoration For None” from Lamb of God’s Randy
Blythe – one of GOJIRA’s most vocal supporters from their first moment making an
impression in the Americas – and the now familiar Morbid Angel-isms of The Way
Of All Flesh’s title track join the angular riffing more akin to Meshuggah on
“Esoteric Surgery” and the epic, artful plodding of the nearly 10-minute “The Art of
Dying,” showing that GOJIRA have indeed opened a new bag of tricks for The Way
Of All Flesh, while not abandoning the sound that first showed a massive promise of
potential on Sirius.
“It’s more inventive than From Mars To Sirius and at the same time more straight to
the point,” GOJIRA frontman Joe Duplantier says of The Way of All Flesh. “The whole
album is about death, death is like a step on the path of the soul. The mystery
surrounding this phenomenon is just so inspiring, and death is the most common
thing on earth.”
“This album is also a ‘requiem’ for our planet,” Duplantier continues. “We don't
want to be negative or cynical about the fate of humanity, but the situation on
Earth is growing critical, and the way humans behave is so catastrophic that we
really need to express our exasperation about it. It's not fear, but anger. But we still
believe that consciousness can make a difference and that we can change things
as human beings.”
| Booking : emmabooking@wanadoo.fr / badprod@wanadoo.fr Label : listenable@wanadoo.fr Band infos : www.gojira-music.com / www.myspace.com/gojira |