Gojira
Gojira (gow jee rah), yes that is a real name, yes it is a real band and yes, they are French. Though they are not a new band, they are a new band to me. I recently heard “Our Time is Now” and I have to say, yep, your time is most definitely now. They got their start in 1996 as “Godzilla”, changing their name to Gojira in 2001. The band consists of brothers Joseph and Mario Duplantier (vocals and drums respectfully), Christian Andreu on lead guitar, and Jean-Michel Labadie on bass. As Joseph said when they formed the band, “We wanted to go fast and strong. We had no plan, no pressure … We didn’t even have a name”. The only change in the band members was in 1998 when Alexandre Cornillon left the band and Jean-Michel Labadie joined the band. They fit nicely into the Death Metal genre and normally, I’m not a fan of it, but I do like the modern Gojira sound.
Gojira holds the record for the loudest concert (and sound) ever recorded at the Stade de France. They also are very much aware of and promoting environmental, human rights- and animal rights activism.
Their real big break came in 2006 when they replaced Mastodon on the main stage at the Download festival at Donington Park motorsport circuit in Leicestershire, England, sharing the stage with such bands as Tool, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Deftones, KoЯn. They also played The Hellfest in Clisson, France sharing the main stage with bands like KoЯn, Motörhead, Dead Kennedys, and Alice in Chains. That same year, they signed with Prosthetic Records which gave them North American exposure.
Gojira "Remembrance" Hellfest 2006
Gojira "Brutal Assault" Download Festival 2006
In 2007, they toured the U.S. with Lamb of God, along with Trivium and Machine Head. Everything changed in 2009 when they joined Metallica on their North American tour. They have been climbing higher and higher every year since.
I have to admit, their earlier stuff is a little too hard for my liking, I’m not a huge scream fan. But they changed their sound to more of a metal sound for the 2016 Magma album. They have been nominated three times for a Grammy, twice in 2017 and once in 2022. They have released seven studio albums, with their current studio album being “Fortitude”, “one of 2021’s most heavily anticipated metal releases”. They have also released three live DVDs and are the first French band to top the Billboard Hard Rock Albums chart.
The one thing that I find very odd about Gojira, is that on many tracks, the vocals are almost below their musical track, the vocals are not overpowering, and at times, difficult to hear.
From their Fortitude
Amazonia
The Chant
The song “Our Time Is Now” is a new single released in mid-Oct 2022 and appears on the EA Sports NHL 23 game soundtrack along with other great bands like Ghost, KoЯn, Motionless In White, and Shinedown. Joseph Duplantier stated “If you care about something meaningful to you and your community. If you are standing for a cause, if you show compassion and solidarity for the ones whose rights are taken away, if you’re in a war defending your inherent rights or fighting against deforestation, if you’re standing for animal rights, human rights, you are the lightning bolt, the spark that will shape our world. Your time is now! Our time is now!”
Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
https://www.gojira-music.com/
https://www.facebook.com/
https://twitter.com/
