From Mars to Sirius

I've heard a lot of interesting things about this album, and it has a pretty damn cool cover (Whales!! IN SPACE!!!) so I bought it, and damn is it good. My friend described it as Pink Floyd's Metalcore project, and while I don't think that's quite accurate, it's definetly a cool, progressive and exciting album.

The album starts off on a pretty strong foot. "Ocean Planet" Besides being a cool name, is full of interesting, off beat and fairly oceanic riffs. Great vocals here, both sung and screamed, with some pounding riffs, and some unique sound that are pitch harmonies and something else. Maybe a whale song put through a few fx pedals. Either way, it's a great start, great to headbang to. The thick, raw but fairly clear production helps too.. every hit of the snare, every guitar riff is represented really good here. Great production doesnt make an album great, but it definetly improves an album.

Fair bit of variety on show here too folks. We have the oceanic riffs of the first song, the fast, chugging monster that is From the Sky, the cool mellow interlude of Unicorn, and the song with the coolest title in the universe, 'The heaviest matter in the universe' also being full of great riffs, sounding at times like a psycho version of In Flames. but with some good clean vocals. The vocalist is a pretty decent. All too often, great bands can be let down by the singer, but everything this dude does makes the songs better, whether it's growling, or singing.

A lot of bands will have some good first few songs but then the album will go downhill. Not Gojira though.. Indeed, the album improves. Flying Whales, In the Wilderness and Global Warming are almost 8 minutes long, and these extended lengths give Gojira a chance to be a bit more progressive, to stretch out a bit, and they do that well. Flying Whales has a super awesome mellow intro, while In the Wilderness is just real heavy and doomy for the whole time.. It's quite an exhausting listen. Global Warming has some damn cool riffs, even if it does beat you over the head with a message. The opening riff of Global Warming is maybe the best one here, and shows of the Guitarists' skills. The guitarists, while they doesn't solo much, they are always playing great riffs, all of which are super headbangable, and fit the songs great.

Gojira aren't reinventing the wheel, but you won't really find any other bands doing the same thing. Their next album should be real exciting. A great album that most metalheads would dig. Highly recommended!