From Mars to Sirius

Well, Gojira. These guys seem to be the flavour of the month at the moment. An issue of Terrorizer Magazine (#151) had them on the front cover with the heading “Are these guys the saviours of metal?”

While these guys are pretty good, they’re definitely not the be-all-and-end-all of metal.

The collection of songs here are very unique. They’re not thrash, they’re not completely death, hints of metalcore. They’re not limited to one style of playing, and that makes for a good, varied spread of songs.

The best thing about the album is easily the production. Everything is crystal clear, the drums have a slight echo, and nothing dominates or takes over anything else. If the production were muddy, then it wouldn’t fit the vocals, which would give off a false interpretation of what the album is trying to convey. Could you imagine the opening riff of “Where Dragons Dwell” with thicker production? Neither could I.

As of the vocals, he does vary his style from clean to harsh. He never uses deep growls or grunts, which, again, wouldn’t fit the flow of the music at all. His voice is almost epic in a way, leaving a sense of beauty (perhaps), and connects perfectly with the sound of the music. The deepest his voice gets would probably be on “Global Warming” where he says: “What is this thing that we call hate? And that’s inside of me? Get out of here!”

The guitar work is very good. All the notes are heard very crisply. While they never solo, I don’t really think the album needs it, as the riffs they use are fulfilling enough. One of the best guitar riffs is at 4:20 on “From The Sky”, using a long, simple riff structure, but it just fits really well.

As for the drums, they’re also great. Plenty of double-kick action, putting it just where it is needed, plus slower and faster beating action, and even a blast beat thrown in occasionally. He goes through the whole repertoire of drumming techniques, so there is no limitation. All the beats are played tightly, and they all just sound great. “Ocean Planet” is a good example of his skills behind the drum kit. The best part of the album, however, in both the drum and guitar aspect, is the final two minutes or so of “In The Wilderness”. Everything about that is completely kick-ass. Listen to it, and I dare you not to have it stuck in your head.

Flaws? Well, not major ones. “World To Come” is a pretty average song, probably the weakest of the album. The fact that it goes for over 6 minutes doesn’t really do it any good. In fact, 8 of the 12 songs on offer go over 5 minutes, two over 7 minutes, making the whole album approximately 67 minutes long. For album standards, it’s an exhausting listen, but if there are heaps of intriguing musical pieces, then it won’t seem so long.

So, in saying that, this album is pretty good. It’s also very accessible. With the clean production and understandable vocals, this album is a good place to start for someone who is new to metal. However, unlike what Terrorizer thinks, they’re not the saviours of metal (who said metal needed saving?). Fans of extreme metal won’t like it, but it is a well thought-out, unique listen for everybody else.

Best tracks: Ocean Planet, Flying Whales, In The Wilderness