From Mars to Sirius

This is the only album of 'Gojira' (bit of a silly name, but then they are French) I have heard, and it at least made me notice them. Not a terribly heavy album, nor terribly brutal, it does have a lot of catchy riffs that have you wishing the rest of the song was better.

The vocals are good, sometimes excellent, but never brilliant, a kind of aggressive yell similar to Tom Araya except with more melody. Duplantier has a strong voice and he knows how to use it, although the lyrics lack in creativity. The general theme of the album is global warming and the world flooding.

The guitar work ranges from crummy cliche metalcore licks to these quite nice thrashy riffs, an unfortunate mix for those of us who can't stand our metal 'compromised'. Some impressive pieces from these new-comers, however. The bass also has a few interesting fills, but thats about all.

Drumming is good, not great. Nothing terribly original in that department, but definently skilled. The double kick is scattered throughout songs, which I prefer instead of a constant barrage.

The production is a little glossy and overdone, with the guitars sounding a bit too flat at times. Not for experienced metalheads, definently something aimed at all the kiddies who love Bodom and similar shit.

I won't be running out to buy the next release or even rushing to downloading the next album, but I would definently keep an eye on these boys and hope they grow the balls to shake off their metalcore influences and make some serious death metal, which I think they are very capable of doing.

Not a bad effort at all, but let's hope it improves next time around.