Terra Incognita

I’m aware that nowadays, given the current state of this band, as well as their enormous popularity in the metal community worldwide, it might be redundant to review their discography, considering that much has been said already, especially concerning their influences, their ideology and its recent style shift. Nonetheless, if there are works by them that could or should receive more attention, they’d certainly be their demos and first two albums. More often than not, due to the praise that endeavors as "From Mars to Sirius" or "The Way of All Flesh" receive (and rightfully so, don’t misunderstand me here), their early recordings can be easily overlooked by the audience, particularly newcomers. Which is a pity, since they’re a bit of a surprise.

Despite the fact that this is confessedly my favorite Gojira record due to personal preferences, I also believe it’s objectively one of their best efforts. Just as in the majority of debuts, we can appreciate the version of the band that stood the closest to their roots. This is exactly what they wanted to be, it’s their purest form. No pressure, no conditioning, just a bunch of young musicians and their convictions. They never managed to put out something by the likes of "Terra Incognita" again. Most of the releases that followed were in effect great, but still a far cry from this raw, visceral and energetic opus.

It can be somewhat difficult to place them entirely in one specific sub-genre. I'd say they started out as pure death metal (yet with certain peculiarities, as you’ll see), to later become half-death/half-progressive, to finally transition into a full progressive outfit, which in all honesty, sometimes barely qualifies as metal. Yes, they definitely exhibit groove elements, but not to the point they can be labeled entirely as groove metal.

Strong influences from acts such as Morbid Angel (particularly "Domination" and "Formulas Fatal to the Flesh") or Death (in the vein of "Human" and "Symbolic") are evident. There’s also a great deal of mid-paced, groovy sections that remind of Sepultura’s "Arise" era. Albeit many comparisons with other groups can be drawn, there’s indeed originality and diversity - this isn’t just predictable and bastardized death metal.

One of the most notable aspects is the production, which settles a sterile and eerie ambience the band never replicated, featuring a very thick guitar tone besides a dry drum sound. The guitar work is simple but effective, ranging from fast tremolo riffs with a fair amount of tempo changes, to others that are mid-paced and played in odd time signatures (slightly reminiscent of "Obscura" by Gorguts), to slow, atmospheric rhythms that include calm and relatively melodic parts. The bass, despite being a little buried in the mix, has a few standout moments, for example, in "Blow Me Away You(niverse)", "Space Time" or "Love". On the other hand, the drumming is superb - it blends in perfectly with the riffs and the atmosphere. It’s highly technical and precise, every single beat is on place. There are tracks with nearly constant double-bass (for example, "Clone", "Deliverance" and "Love"), ferocious blast beats (in songs such as "Lizard Skin" or "Fire is Everything") as well as many interesting fills, flowing perfectly all the way through, at all pace, whether it’s fast, moderate or slow.

The vocal performance also drags the listener’s attention. First and foremost, the words are clearly perceptible. Secondly, it’s noticeably eclectic - not only you’ll find the standard death metal deep growls (to give you an idea, fairly similar to Steve Tucker’s), but also a rather unique technique that many have described as "melodic yelling", which would eventually become Joe Duplantier’s trademark style, and even clean vocals. In contraposition with other releases, the lyrics are considerably more straight-forward and blunt. They don’t focus exclusively in ecology and spirituality, as they also address introspective and social issues.

So far, so good... do I have any complaints? Yes, five to be exact! Namely: "04", "5988 trillions de tonnes", "On the B. O. T. A.", "1990 quatrillions de tonnes" and "In the Forest". The first four are the typical passages (mostly instrumental) that are supposed to work as transitions between songs, but add zero musicality. "04" does nothing for 45 seconds and then blasts into an admittedly quite good tapping bass solo. In fact, without those pointless 45 seconds, it would have functioned better as an intro of "Blow Me Away You(niverse)" instead of a standalone song. "On the B. O. T. A." shows a similar style, for it also contains tapping, except it's guitar in lieu of bass and incorporates lyrics and drumming - but it's just as futile. "5988 trillions de tonnes" and "1990 quatrillions de tonnes" are an utter waste of time. The former is simply a display of tribal drumming (akin to what they did on subsequent recordings, like "The Link" or "The Art of Dying"), while the latter contains nonsensical screaming/screeching over a quiet guitar section - the first time I heard it reminded me of the infamous Silencer and their (thankfully) only full-length release. "In the Forest" is a really solid song, but it presents almost 7 minutes of silence and aleatory noisiness towards the end. The album would’ve been far better structured if these clumsy moments had been taken out.

But even so, regardless of the imperfections, I can affirm with certainty that the positive aspects outweigh the negatives by a long shot. You’re in for an interesting, intriguing and unorthodox approach to death metal, most entertaining to experience.

Favorite tracks: "Clone", "Lizard Skin", "Satan is a Lawyer", "Blow Me Away You(niverse)", "Deliverance", "Space Time".