From Mars to Sirius

I think I can safely say that this is the first official Gojira album that I overall liked, the first listen was quite satisfying (although it was a bit long) and the following ones have had a quite comfortable tone that has not caused me any kind of rejection.

In fact, I could even say that I liked most of the elements of the album, the quality of the songs in terms of structure has improved, they are not very intuitive which makes them intriguing and keeps you interested in the music, and although the groove elements are still present they are not so prominent and those that are there come to fit naturally with the rest of the elements so they don't become obnoxious. The music itself feels cohesive, both in the way it interacts moving between the heavier and more melodic parts and how it fits in with the atmosphere and aesthetics of the album, even the instrumental doesn't feel like a filler as it used to be, but rather a component of the message that prevails in this album. With all of the above, I think it is worth mentioning a great production and a superb performance on drums and vocals by the Duplantier brothers.

So if almost all the elements of this album are good or improved over their previous releases, why am I giving them a grade, which without being bad, is rather discreet? Because the main problem I have with this album, and with most of Gojira's songbook, is the horrendous quality of the riffs, in a few words I find it incredible that in a one hour album I have been unable to find a single riff that was worth the mention. Well that' s a lie, there are some riffs that are ok and those are all the ones that emulate the classic Morbid Angel riff from the Domination/Formulas era, which are so blatant that they can only be described as "tribute" rather than something of their own making.

I think this album is the one that has made me understand Gojira the best, not in vain is the one that has always been recommended to me by the Gojira fans I've met, it represents an easy way to consume death metal giving a sense of technique and complexity that will surprise your high school friends who would laugh at you if you showed them Cannibal Corpse instaed. I think it's thanks to this sound that pretends to be more than what it really is that has made Gojira a really popular band, so I can say that the sound that has made them become famous is one that will never fit me because of the way I see death metal. Still, I won't do as many do when they face a work that intentionally pretends to be easy to listen to for a more casual audience, I can appreciate many qualities of this album and I really see this kind of albums even necessary as they will serve for many people as a first contact to a great musical genre, as a counterpart we have to deal with uneducated unconditional fans of the French who will clamor without any sense about the technical and artistic quality of the band that they do lack, but you know, not everything can be perfect and this album is also far from it.

I don't want to end this in a too negative tone because so far it has been the first album of these guys that I have liked, so let's just enjoy this album, I doubt that there will be again the progression that there has been so far because given what they have shown to me I think this is the pinnacle of the style they have been working on since the horrifying "Terra Incognita" but who knows? Maybe in part V I will be surprised.