GOJIRA –MAGMA

A shoegazy intro with a distorted ambient drive, “The Shooting Star” blows open Magma with a syncopated deep groove and trance inducing vocals that offer a quick glimpse into what this eclectic band has in store for us, and they certainly do with hard yet delicious guitar and vocal onslaught of “Silvera”. Key changes initiate interest while alarm-like guitars cavort over chants and vocal experimentations.

Gojira - Silvera [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

Jean-Michel Labadie takes his bass and turns it into a weapon that permeates the senses with “The Cell”, while brothers Joe and Mario Duplantier push forward with a harsh vocal and drum explosion, paving the way for Christian Andreus’s riffs. Massive heaps of immediate head banging fodder continue on “Stranded”, using wailing guitars to culminate growling drum and bass punches, whilst Joe calls out the status quo of “Another day in the dark” and supplicates against it.

Dysmorphic bass guides the way between tracks with “Yellow Stone” exploring the space and slides us into the title song, “Magma”.

“Magma” features a vast and gorgeously addictive entrance that blasts open and imbues hot liquid metal into our very souls. Trancelike vocals reminiscent of whatever could come of the imaginative union of Baroness and Pink Floyd, Gojira throw everything into the pot, and the magma that ensues is nothing short of a sonic flourish of gargantuan proportions. After the rivers of magma running under our skin, we “Pray”, which takes a life of its own as it tickles our inner animals. We journey into aggression, with face pummeling drums, runs, and polytonal vocal chants drenched with forceful drum and bass torrential downpours which continue into “Only Pain”, a song that fulfills flourishing guitar wails tacked onto staccato-tight guitar riffs and a Korn-esque vocal.

The syncopation continues with “Low Lands”, guitars and undertones that reawaken the senses and move away from death/thrash metal inclinations. “Low Lands” errs on the side of progressive metal in an utmost baroque sensitivity straight into the masterful unleashing into a breathy guitar soliloquy that breathes into “Liberation”, the organic and natural conclusion to Magma. A simple guitar and hand drum exploration of notes, tones, and rhythms brings Magma to a close. It’s a soothing transition from where we’ve been to where we can view and dream where this band can take us again.

Start to finish, Gojira leaves nothing out on Magma. This album is metal for today’s metal connoisseur, and Gojira are the artisans that deliver it to us morsel by metal suffused morsel.

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by Alice Roques, RockRevolt Managing Editor