Magma

Gojira is easily the biggest thing in death metal right now. Writing this in hindsight after sitting with Gojira’s follow up “Fortitude” for almost a year, this album finally makes sense. “Magma” was a major disappointment to seasoned Gojira fans because the band seemingly went soft. Always a technical or progressive death metal band, Gojira leaned into the progressive side of their work in an unusual way. They stripped down the sound, got almost psychedelic or spacey with their melodies and most disappointingly, got significantly less heavy in the process. This is not without its benefits however, as I found the band through this album and quickly springboarded into their better work that came before and after this album and yes, “Fortitude” is much stronger than “Magma”.

Album opener “The Shooting Star” is a clear and glaring example of what long time fans gripe about this album over. It is slow, moody, weird and frankly it kind of drags. Very odd choice as an opening to an album. It definitely would feel stronger around track 4. This song sat in the at or around the end of the band's live set while supporting this record and it was a lackluster ending as well. Had it been in the middle, I imagine a migration of fans to the bathroom or bar. It’s not a bad song. Its just too far flung from what the fans came here for and this is a trend on this record.

"Magma" is not without it’s high points though. The next three tracks are actually pretty solid. “Silvera” is a classic. It's a good balance of the old school Gojira sound with the new stripped down weird sound. It is an early attempt at what the band mostly did right on their next album. “Stranded” is a straight up banger although many hardcore Gojira fans might be a little worn out over it after hearing it so many times, it is objectively awesome. These two songs alone created a whole new generation of Gojira fans of which I am a part. “The Cell” and “Only Pain” feel like call backs to the band’s earlier work and likely would feel more at home on “The Way of All Flesh”. “The Cell” is fast paced and has some of Mario Duplantier’s trademarked snare rhythms. “Only Pain” is a heavy hitting straight up Gojira style death metal track. No complaints with either.

The rest of the album was more of a let down. “Pray” was decent but for a 5 minute song, it feels a lot longer. It's not even that the record is bereft of heaviness. There is plenty. There is just too little emphasis on the things we love about Gojira. The blast beats, the riffs, the grooves, the energy. The latter of which is really lacking. It comes off as too contemplative for a band who got to where it was by being the best goddamn mosh pit band on the fucking planet. Thankfully, looking in hindsight, “Magma” is more of a transition than it is a trend. While there is a comparable amount of raw heaviness on the band’s follow up, that album has energy to spare.

“Magma” is definitely a weak point for Gojira. While it is not the great betrayal that many like to claim it was, the album certainly was not a step forward. More of a “Youthanasia” than a “St. Anger” this album gets a D from me.

After 5 official albums and 6 reviews for my part, what I was asking from Gojira was a change to a new direction, the style they had been developing for years had already reached its peak and my feeling was that they couldn't get more out of it, "L'enfant sauvage" although it was solvent album, I couldn't help but look at it as rather generic and formulaic for what this band is all about. Luckily, at least for me, the French band decided to use new approaches on this album, although nothing too exaggerated. I say lucky for me because a part of their fan base seems quite disappointed with this album, but I don't fully understand the reasons for being so, the most noticeable changes at first instance is the increased use of clean vocals and the disappearance of long tracks, neither of these things seem like a big loss to me, Joe Duplantier's vocals were far from spectacular and unique and I've never been a fan of most of Gojira's long tracks. Otherwise there are still many of the elements that make Gojira being Gojira, the rip offs to Morbid Angel, the unconventional tempo changes and that tribal, atmospheric side, although they have toned all this down in turn to use more progressive and sludge approaches with some of their riffs.

And speaking of riffs, I think I've already said a few times that most of the Gojira riffs seem incredibly soft to me, except in a few occasions, in this album only with "Silvera", "Stranded" and the homonymous "Magma" they already surpass with solvency the riffs of most of their albums and that's why I think these changes are positive, the approach to sludge has made the riffs gain in strength and heaviness, and the fact that the songs are shorter means that they don't have to worry so much about making those intense changes of rhythm to keep the song interesting and they can focus more on the small details of each song, although not all of them, each tune seem much more developed and they are well differentiated from each other, it gives the album a very good rhythm in terms of the flow of the songs.

Even with all this there are problems that persist which I assume will never go away, I am aware of Gojira's need to have short instrumentals that contribute nothing, however this time they almost succeed, the only song that can be considered of this type is "Yellow Stone" and to my surprise it works as it develops a powerful riff and is quite out of what I would expect from Gojira, a part of me would like a song with that riff but I limit myself to be satisfied for working as a good intro and counterpoint to the homonymous song "Magma", which for me represents the highest point of the album, I don't know if it is inspired by the music of the french band of Zeuhl with the same name (I'm not into that music), but you can appreciate that it is a more complex song if we compare it with the rest of the album, "Magma" works perfectly from the initial riff to the chorus going through all those slow places close to the sludge already mentioned.

From this point onwards the album decays, the last four songs don't seem very redeemable, "Low Lands" seems to please a good part of their fan base but I think it's even too soft even for the standards of the album, the build up is too long and the final result doesn't seem to me to justify it. The song that of course I can't stand is the unnecessary "Liberation", an acoustic instrumental with tribal percussion, it doesn't add anything and it's a horrible way to end the album. My question is why do they add something like that? How big is the band's ego and pretension? I know several Gojira fans and I've never ever heard them mention this kind of songs as something they like about the band, I'm sure that even many fans just skip them, totally pointless.

I think I can say without hesitation that after "The Way of All Flesh" this has been the Gojira album that I have liked the most, so while to many others this change of approach seemed a step backwards for the band, I have appreciated it, we will see what is in the last album and what will be the end of my journey in their discography, it will be in the review of "Fortitude" where I will evaluate my experience with the band in general, as well as the album itself.

Damn, guys. Just damn. I think you just broke my heart here.

Gojira has been a rising star in the metal world for quite some time, primarily due to their boundary-pushing approach to death metal in the century's early years and then their developments to groove metal and progressive metal on releases like "The Way of All Flesh" and "L'Enfant Sauvage". Although these records certainly weren't super "brutal", they still had a certain exciting death-metal-bite to them, which made them mosh-friendly, heavy and interesting. If you look for something that's even remotely comparable to what Gojira once stood for, don't bother with this record. You won't find it here.

First off, let's start with the riffs, or with what little you find of those. There are exactly three riffs on this entire album that stuck with me for more than ten minutes, those being the main riff of Silvera (although the lead in the chorus is also rather catchy), the main riff of Only Pain and the short riff in the chorus-like middle of Magma. Apart from that it's all monotonous tremolos, vapid chugging and throw-away filler, sometimes carrying on for way, WAY too long. The bass also just trots along with the guitars for 90% of the album, which as this point shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone anymore.

Joe's vocals also took an apparent nosedive compared to their previous record and lost a lot of punch, which really is a shame, as I always considered him to be one of if not the best vocalist in this whole "groovy-progressive-technical" movement of metal that's going on right now. His signature pitched-scream is still there for the most part, but juxtaposed to these rather uninspired clean vocals, which sometimes don't seem to harmonise cleanly with the underlying guitar work.

Mario Duplantier is still an absolute menace though, and the only member to seem like he actually gave a fuck about the end product. There are a lot of odd time signatures and poly-rhythms on display here, which might entertain you for a little while if you're a die-hard drumming nerd, but since they are opposed to these vacant guitar lines and arranged monotonously, you're probably going to have forgotten about them once the next song starts. They also seem to be more thinly produced and lack a lot of attack in comparison to their previous releases, which can be said about the production in general though,

The most adept way to describe this album though is "boring". Metal, no matter what subgenre we are talking about, should always contain a certain level of aggression, of anger, of sadness, of frustration, of fucking emotion, things that are nowhere to be found on this record, at least in no way, shape or form that seems genuine, sincere and authentic, which is only exacerbated by the amount of repetition this album features.

Skip this. Please.

Favorite tracks: Silvera, Only Pain
Least favorite tracks: Pray, The Shooting Star

On their sixth full-length album Magma, progressive metal band Gojira experiment with influences from further afield while processing the grief that comes with the loss of a loved one. Four years on from 2012’s astonishing L’Enfant Sauvage, the French quartet’s blend of blisteringly heavy death metal, fascinating progressive tendencies, and subtle atmospheric flourishes has lost none of its force or vitality.

Where previous albums dealt with broad, global issues – the environment, death and mortality, as well as the alienation of mankind from nature in modern industrial society – Magma is far more personal, inspired by the recent loss of the Joe (guitar/vocals) and Mario (drums) Duplantier’s mother to cancer. It’s also the first album completed in the recording studio the band recently built themselves in New York City, and thus a very different recording environment for the band. Magma sees them turn their gaze inwards in processing this loss as well as the change in environment, and this process of introspection has resulted in the band’s most human and emotionally powerful album yet.

Where previous albums were sprawling epics of dazzling technical brilliance, Magma sees the band exploring a more streamlined and, dare I say it, accessible sound. This album marks vocalist Joe Duplantier’s first foray into incorporating clean singing as a major part of his repertoir, with some songs here consisting entirely of clean voclas, though often in addition to his trademark roar. And the songs here are, for the most part, much simpler, relying on fewer – but more distinct – motifs as defining features of each song. Lyrically and musically this album is saturated with a feeling of angst and despair, and given the background to this album’s completion and the experiences of the band over the last four years it is not hard to understand its source.

But much of what listeners have come to love about Gojira remains in place here. Silvera’s brutal riffage and savage roars are a kick to the teeth, while its stunning melodic tapping section serves as a perfect counterweight to the heaviness. Stranded’s sharp, angular riffs and anthemic chorus is instantly infectious, while The Cell’s central riff could have been written by Meshuggah themselves. The atmospheric opening track The Shooting Star’s central riff is a behemoth that will immediately have your head nodding along, with Joe Duplantier’s clean vocals bringing to mind some of Mastodon’s more recent output.

The album’s title track is perhaps the most successful example of the new influences Gojira are exploring. It contrasts heavy downtuned chugging with Duplantier’s melodic croon, as well as a fantastic melodic pinch harmonic motif. The haunting choruses, aggressive vocals, brutal fretwork and anthemic chorus of Pray result in a tour de force, a standout track I find myself revisiting frequently. Only Pain is, in my estimation, one of Gojira’s heaviest songs to date, musically and emotionally, touching on themes of futility and suffering. The rawness of the muscular guitar riffs, with down-tuned djent rhythmic sections, driven onwards by the merciless double-bass drumming, makes this a real highlight, and probably my favourite from the whole album.

The final ‘real’ track of the album, the deeply atmospheric Low Lands is a genuinely touching, moving song. It seems to be written directly to the Duplantier brothers’ recently deceased mother Patricia Rosa, asking what she sees in the afterlife “while you drift away from all the plagues of this world”. The sincerity of this song and the glimpse it provides into the grief that led to its creation make for a gripping listen.

The album is not without its flaws, however. Though Magma technically lasts 43 minutes and has ten tracks, this disguises the fact that Yellow Stone and Liberation are instrumental pieces, and it is hard to shake the feeling that they were simply intended to pad out the track listing. Yellow Stone doesn’t really go anywhere. This would be less if an issue on a longer album but with an album this brief it feels like a missed opportunity. Liberation also seems like a curious choice for an album closer, seeming to have very little in common with any of the other tracks here. But it is a very pretty piece, written for their late mother – and on that level it’s a very poignant note on which to end this deeply personal album.

Gojira’s experiment with a more streamlined and introspective sound on Magma was a risky proposition given how averse to change many metal fans are, often preferring consistency over variety. But it has certainly paid off for them. A consistently astonishing album, brimming with ambition and a real sense of urgency and sincerity, Magma cements Gojira’s place among the leading metal bands of their generation.

Originally written for Metal Void.

When we think of Gojira what comes to mind ? Of course of a technical death metal band with nice lyrics about philosophy, Universe, nature, life and death. Well, in Magma you can forget about the technical death metal part BUT it is not necessarily a bad things.

First of all, There is two things to say before starting this review : First, if you're an elitist that only listen to metal, you will only like a few tracks on this album (if you like some) because it's not really metal anymore and second, this album was written after the death of Joe and Mario Duplantier's (singer/guitarist and drummer) mother, which explains the lyrics of some songs that are clearly talking about this case, like The Shooting Star or Stranded and Magma, the eponymous song. And Liberation, the instrumental track that finish the album, is a improvisation of the Duplantier's brothers after they learned the death of their mother.

So the album starts with The Shooting Star, and clearly announces that it won't be like the previous ones. Indeed, this song is really atmospheric, with clean vocal (and some screams here and there but only a little) and a slow riff. At first I didn't really pay attention to this one, but it really grew on me with times. On the ten tracks there's other atmospheric songs like Yellow Stone which is an instrumental with post-rock influences, Magma, Low Lands and Liberation which makes a ratio of 2/5 of atmospherics songs, almost half of the album.

However there's also more violent songs like Silvera which is my favorite track I think, with a nice riff and lyrics (even a solo, the first of all of Gojira's discography) or Pray, Only Pain and The Cell. There's even a song like Stranded which is clearly the single of the album, with a catchy riff and a catchy chorus which is for a larger public, even if there's still screams on it.

To summarize this album, I will say that I personally didn't really like it at first, but then I listened to it some times after and it really grew on me. At first I was disappointed, like a lot of fans, because it wasn't heavy, the rhythms and melodies weren't as complicated as they were before, especially the drum that is godlike on the previous albums with Mario Duplantier, my favorite drummer of all time without a doubt, and which is here WAY MORE SIMPLER and that still broke my heart deep inside, but in the end, Gojira already showed their ability to play complicated stuff. They're simpler, but we can still ear that it's Gojira's songs and they're still quality songs. The more you listen to this album, the more you understand the charms of Gojira's refined style of music. Furthermore, if you understand the pain of losing someone dear to you, which is probably the case, you will surely be touched by the lyrics, especially The Shooting Star, Stranded and Magma.

Finally, I will add that there is, in my opinion, not a single bad tracks on Magma, I love them all, especially Silvera, The Shooting Star, Pray and Magma with a mesmerizing riff, a quite planing one and original. It's a different album, there is no doubt about it, with the riffs, the simpler melodies, the cleans and there's even french lyrics on Low Lands. Some fans won't like it and it's understandable because it's clearly different with what they've done before and it's not technical as it was. However I think everyone should give a chance to this record, because when you accept the changements, you will see the quality of this album and all the works behind it and that, in fact, even in a more rock-style, Gojira still rules.

While Magma may be Gojira's most successful release to date, even earning the French Four a Grammy, I found it to be somewhat overrated. The group had previously proven themselves to be masters of technical and even groovy metal styles on albums like The Way of All Flesh and From Mars to Sirius, they slow down somewhat on this album, detracting from the aggression they once laid claim to.

While it does possess some cool riffs, a majority of the ones on this album are either too laid-back or are just a bunch of open-string chugs. Guitarists Joe Duplantier and Christian Andreu excessively use their DigiTech Whammy pedals on songs like "Stranded" and "Only Pain." The drummers are cool, though, masterfully pounded with great speed and technicality by Joe's brother Mario. Joe's vocals vary, sometimes aggressive like on "Silvera" but sometimes mellow and gloomy, such as on "The Shooting Star." The whole album has an atmosphere of tragedy, with oddly melancholic effects used on the vocals and guitars.

This album is a mixed bag. There are softer and more emotional songs, and then there are the aggressive, borderline death metal songs. Songs like "The Shooting Star," "Yellow Stone" and "Magma" drone on seemingly endlessly, making the listener want to fall asleep; while headbangers like "Silvera," "Stranded," "The Cell," and "Only Pain" are lacking in compositional length and, for the most part, memorability.

While many people, particularly more casual metalheads and newer fans of Gojira, seem to love this album, it is wildly overrated and somewhat boring to listen to. Some songs are aggressive yet short, and the rest are dreary and stupidly long. I had the good luck to see Gojira perform the day I bought this CD; they did a great job, playing many songs from Magma, and even the slower songs were great for moshing. Because of this experience, my opinion of Gojira has not been permanently ruined by this mediocre album. But it is with great confidence that I say that Gojira has seen better days.

What is metal actually about? There are many answers to that questions - being heavy, creating extreme music, killing posers, dragons, or just not giving a fuck in general. And there may be some degree of truth in all of those. Personally, I believe that metal needs to maintain an element of creative aggression, or, to put it simply, “an edge”. Even at their most commercial, metal records need to have something visceral and biting about them.

And as you probably guessed by now, this Gojira album is certainly not about this edge. On “Magma”, the French squadron took their drive and bite away and replaced it with… exactly nothing. Their previous effort, “L’Enfant Sauvage”, while flawed, broke into a punishing section every once in a while and the unsettling squealing guitars did try their best to send chills down one’s spine. Here, even the heavier sections in songs like “The Cell” sound quite tame. And it gets worse, because the repetition that Gojira successfully avoided thanks to their crushing power manifests itself in long, repetitive, go-nowhere sections. A band focused on rhythms and riffs so much suddenly has even less to work with. Riffs... I am forcing myself to say that word as early as during the verses of “The Shooting Star”.

“Magma” resembles Coroner’s “Grin” in that it is a very stripped-down album. The aggression is virtually gone, but unlike “Grin”, there is no cold aura of sterility (and certainly no pristine guitar leads) to balance it out. It might be a result of the slightly hazy production that doesn’t focus on making the instruments clear and powerful. Instead, it seems that the band tried to make the overall sound compact in favor of the greater whole. If that was the case, they failed miserably, simply because there is no atmosphere that would be highlighted by such approach. Sure, the album is definitely somber and evokes a sense of slight depression - however, any emotional moment that may have been present remains buried in the mud of the mix rather than shining through.

The mother of Mario and Joe Duplantier passed away during the making of “Magma”. That is indeed a tragedy. Gojira, if they were to release music (to be certainly affected by this sad event), had two ways to cope. Either they could have put together a bunch of campfire songs and make “Liberation” the title track. It would likely be terrible, but understandable. The other option would be to take the crushing Gojira we have grown to love and turn it into something even heavier, more tortured and ultimately purifying. Needless to say, “Magma” doesn't even come close.

Despite having two angry young men writing the music, “Magma” comes across as a controlled attempt to compromise the Duplantiers’ tragic story with the fact that they were on the cusp of success after releasing “L’Enfant Sauvage”. That is its main flaw. Take the single - “Stranded” - despite having an efficient melodic hook in the chorus, musically, there is little more than a half-baked chugging riff. The song resembles their previous works just enough and you can hear some effort, but it’s also devoid of any exciting moment. This sentence can also be applied to the whole record.

The redeeming moments are few and far between. “The Cell” is good - combining a busy intro part with some simple downtuned riffs and a decently catchy vocal melody. Then, there is the simple-yet-awesome main riff of the fairly intense “Silvera” with a respectable attempt at creating a haunting melody. They also tried in the title track, and the main, eerie melody is a very unorthodox idea that could almost build up some climactic tension, but the rest of the (almost) 7-minute track is basically just chugging. Not even the stellar drum patterns of yore are present, since this album rarely picks up pace. Mario does try to add crafty rhythms and percussions, but also suffers from the production smokescreen.

There are several other songs on the record, but after a dozen spins, they may as well not. Nothing really sticks out as memorable or inspired - simple riffs repeated ad nauseam or monotonous vocals that could only work if they were fueled by anger, sorrow, or any real, piercing emotion. That, for me, is the cardinal sin that Gojira committed - they possessed the ability to write good songs they could put their hearts and souls into, but decided to do neither. The only thing they really accomplished is making that grey cover fitting.

As the acclaim this record receives grows bigger, this absolute lack of anything stimulating becomes more and more aggravating. There is so little to listen to, and hence little reason to even listen to “Magma”, let alone choose it over any of their previous efforts. This record doesn’t really bring anything valuable in terms of musical progression, but only dumbs down Gojira’s trademark technique and towering heaviness. Presumably, this compromise was done in a vain attempt to make “Magma” homogeneous and palatable, rather than repetitive and bland. Not mentioning completely edge-less.

This album could not have been released at a better time honestly. I have heard their entire discography up to this point, and discovered L'Enfant Sauvage about a month before this album was set to be released. Also, it was released the day of my final math test, so I got to celebrate afterwards by going out and getting it in store. Great day.

Stylistically, this band has been shifting away from using lots of double bass and blast beats, so some fans aren't taking well to it. This release definitely creates an even larger gap between itself and L'ES, but it does so without compromising too much. This album is probably the most ambient of them all. The vocals are drenched in reverb for almost every song and wherever there are guitar overdubs, those are drenched in reverb as well. Joe Duplantier's typical clean vocals have changed alot in the past 4 years, sounding more raspy and lower pitched. However, he's changed his technique, completely altering his sound. For the better or worse? I kinda think for the better. You can't sound the same at age 40 like you did at 20.

The production on this album is absolutely stellar. Arguably the best of them all. The Link was too cold sounding, From Mars To Sirius was too muddy, L'ES was rather over compressed and the drum sound was very synthetic and robotic. (Not Mario's usual robotic vibe when doing double bass runs or blast beats.) Here, every element of the music sounds more natural and earth-borne. The drums are compressed perfectly, and don't stamp out any important playing dynamics. One might even go as far as to say that this is THE model sound for bass drums in metal music in general. At the beginning of "Stranded", listen to the drums on the off beats of the guitar, and youll hear lots of very low bass flowing underneath the whole mix. Now listen to any of the louder more ambient songs, and you can hear the treble end of the bass drum. Always there, but out of everything else's way. Where it should be. The guitars on all of Gojira's albums tend not to change much, so that's to be expected. Less and less fizzy with each album as they're refining their sound.

Overall, I think Gojira has done a great job being able to make an album that features less of their coveted technicality, but more ambience and emotion. (Joe and Mario's mother died during the making of the album, so the emotion aspect is far more driven this time around) Now they can say they've made an album that could be compared to their other albums as being more ambient. Every band with a balanced discography has to have an ambient album.

Favorites on the album:

Silvera
Stranded
Magma
Lowlands

Gojira remain crushingly heavier than the vast majority of "commercial" metal bands today. That said, Magma lends the impression they've come closer to quiet introspection than ever before. With that, I get the mixed reaction from fans. For whatever reason, I'm reminded of the way The Mars Volta reinvented themselves in 2009 with Octahedron; they're simply taking their essential style down a more subdued path than we're used to hearing from them.

This has been the most interesting time to talk about Gojira at least since the release of The Way of All Flesh in 2008. They had fallen off my personal radar for a few years, and I haven't been enamoured as much with From Mars to Sirius and The Way of All Flesh since around the time the two came out. A polarized reception like Magma's, if anything, seemed like a sign that Gojira might be reinventing themselves in a way that could make them exciting again. A more melodic, atmospheric and airy album could not possibly have been popular with their fanbase, but that's not to say they don't do it really well.

Of any of Gojira's albums, this is definitely the biggest grower-type they've yet released. Because it's not as intensely heavy and urgent as the others, the layers take more time to grow. Considering I've always considered that their sheer heaviness was one of Gojira's best, it really is refreshing to hear them without those extremes. From this, their other defining traits come through more clearly. Their massive-sounding atmosphere still makes it sound like they're recording in an underwater cavern, the progressive grooves are extremely hooky, and the melodic accents carry their weight several times over. Gojira have effectively channelled the same urgency in tighter confines. The writing isn't quite as consistent as it could have been, but there's more than enough solid material here to suggest their change of pace was a good idea.

The mellower (at least relative to past work) approach works well for Gojira's subject this time around. Although their music's almost always related to their personal convictions, Magma draws the music even closer to home. The Duplantier brothers' loss of their mother affected and moved them a ton; it would be more surprising if their next album hadn't been inspired at least in part by that experience. From this, Gojira's most powerful lyrics have inevitably stemmed; even if their clean vocals aren't quite strong enough to deserve such a prominent role on the album, the words and lyrics are powerful enough to sell it through. Even if Magma was inspired by a real-life loss, they still manage to touch upon grander ideas: the afterlife, the loss of love, and the will to carry on in spite of pain. They're not the sort of lyrics you can fully appreciate on paper alone; the music's celestial atmosphere is what gives the words their spiritual weight.

There are a few fantastic songs here. "The Shooting Star" is a slowburning opener that quickly impresses the fact upon the listener that they're in for a subdued Gojira. "Silvera" was the first song I checked out from the album, and it's still probably my favourite, with punchy dark riffs that sound like they were drawn from The Way of All Flesh. "Stranded" has one of the coolest-sounding riffs I've ever heard from the band, and "Low Lands" is a solid way to climax the album, trailed afterwards by the gently acoustic "Liberation". Although the album has definitely grown on me over the course of listens, I have started to feel that Magma is conspicuously frontloaded when it comes to its quality material. All of the songs here are solid, but I find a harder time in remembering great moments from the second half of the record. I support Gojira's subdued evolution, but the lack of standouts nonetheless puts this below their best work. Other than that, there are no gripes to be had with the band's softer approach. The same intensity as always is here-- it just takes a bit more digging on the part of the listener to get it.

Originally written for Heathen Harvest Periodical.

If Gojira’s last effort L’Enfant Sauvage presented a more streamlined sound, Magma is the next step in stripping it down. Abandoning the technical death metal sound that got them popular in the metal world might seem like a betrayal to some, but I’ve always seen Gojira as more of a progressive metal band anyway. They’ve often eschewed the modern tech-death tag in favor of a sound that, while brutal, is heavily textured and dripping with atmosphere all the same. Gojira’s way of combining beautiful textures, chunky riffs, and impressive instrumental skills is simply infectious, especially in albums like The Way of All Flesh and The Link. But Magma is a bit of a different beast, as it opts for an alarmingly simple approach to their signature sound. The groove metal element is still retained, but there’s almost a post-metal quality about the way the album is presented. We now have much more buildup and subtle dynamic shifts in many of the tunes, and this is clear right from the slow-burning opener “Shooting Star,” a song which immediately brings a sense of minimalism to the forefront. During the verses, a single guitar/bass note is repeatedly being played at the bottom while Joe Duplantier’s clear vocals take charge above it. While “Silvera” picks up the pace substantially with Mario Duplantier’s technical drumming and swifter guitar chugs, “Shooting Star” is a clear foreshadowing of the album’s tone. Speaking of vocals, Joe’s clean vocals are much more prominent. Harsh singing is still present, but it’s more thrash-based in nature instead of being gravelly; basically Joe’s shouted vocals are especially frequent. In any case, it’s not like Gojira’s technical side has been entirely erased here, as moments like the punchy-yet-melodic “Silvera” or the amazingly intricate polyrhythmic intro of “The Cell” demonstrate.

But strange moments do pop up more than once as a result of the band’s stylistic shift. The somber instrumental piece “Yellow Stone” is certainly in character for the band, given how their melancholic guitar-driven interlude “The Silver Cord” from The Way of All Flesh sounded. But it still seems completely crazy that they would place an acoustic ambient/folk song at the very end of the album, especially one that lasts for as long as it does (almost 4 minutes, in this case). But “Liberation” does represent this album’s experimentation nicely, and the preceding track “Low Lands” is another odd song that emphasizes a doom-laden atmosphere and somber melodies over outright heaviness. If there are any songs here that represent Gojira’s more traditional sound from past albums, they would be “Silvera,” “Stranded,” and “Only Pain.” Here, you get to hear all the intense double-bass drumming, heavy guitar distortion from Duplantier and Christian Andreu, and bassist Jean-Michel Labadie’s monstrous grooves. This is most notably heard on the fantastic chorus of “Stranded” which subtly slides into a 6/4-time riff while Joe Duplantier belts out some of his most intense harsh vocals yet. But I feel as though the more adventurous songs are also the most exciting ones; they may seem simplistic at first, but despite (and partially because of) their minimalism, they command the listener’s full attention through their subtleties. It would also be sensible to mention the event that likely influenced much of this album’s tone and style: the tragic loss of Joe and Mario Duplantier’s mother, Patricia Rosa. So the somber and downbeat vibe of Magma would certainly make sense because of this as well. While I don’t think this is Gojira’s best record, and it definitely seems like a transitional one, it’s an incredibly exciting one at the same time. It can be tonally inconsistent once in a while, but the unusual experiments and minimalist songwriting choices definitely stick out in a genre filled with technical wizardry and complexity. Magma may be from a different Gojira than we’re used to, but it’s still an excellent piece of work.

(Originally written for Sputnikmusic)

Christ - I don't think there was this much negativity when the Hindenburg crashed! Gojira have always been a divisive band on this particular website. Those who are drawn in by their unique brand of progressive groove/death metal are quite often overly fanatic - whilst on the other side of the fence, naysayers are quick to criticize the band's integrity due to their deserved popularity. I know this - yet am still shocked at the amount of hatred directed at their newest output "Magma". And for what exactly? Changing their style? You mean like almost every band ever does at some point in their career? And I wouldn't even call this a change of style - it's so slight! But for me, it comes at a welcome pace and the reasons behind the evolution are completely justified. Yeah - Gojira don't 'change', they evolve. The beasts they are!

The 'change' everyone's whining about is that of simplification and softening. Whereas previous effort "L'enfant Sauvage" was an explosive and technical delight, "Magma" thrives on its sombre attitude and reflective nature. The Duplantier brothers explained in several interviews that the recording of this album was affected by the death of their mother (hence the album title - "Mama" with the G for 'Gojira' in the midde). It's understandable that the creative process would undergo some alteration. The French quartet have always been ones for philosophy and enlightenment - but this new release takes it to new heights.

The new approach is made clear right from the off. "The Shooting Star" is rich in broad, ethereal melodies, containing a far more melodic vocal performance from Joe. His vocals feel worn and sad - supremely effective in this opening track, and also in the title-track. Drenched in reverb, they provide most of the atmosphere. The lead parts have also calmed significantly - providing eerie, angular melodies in just the right spot to make the listener shiver. The combination of both Joe's vocals and these queer guitar leads is particularly effective on the floating "Low Lands".

However, underneath all the impressionistic, soothing mysticism - beats the heart of the Gojira we all know and love. Despite what naysayers would have you believe, "Magma" contains plenty of those enormous chunky riffs, dissonant guitar squeals and semi-canorous growls that Joe is known for. "The Cell" and "Only Pain" are powerhouses - making the most of their downtuning. The simple and raw chugging of "Stranded" is undeniably fun. And "Silvera" might as well be on "The Way of All Flesh". A highlight for me is the swelling crescendo of "Pray"; the ambient nature sound effects and bone-like juttering rhythms take the band right back to 2005.

I must be careful not to praise this album too much, after all it is far from perfect. The overall pace of the album is crawling, and it could benefit from a dose of energy in the right place - namely towards the end. Though the end of "Low Lands" is dramatic, and the outro, "Liberation", is so incredibly sincere in all its clangy, twangy beauty - an injection of the style found at the beginning of "The Cell" would have been welcome. The other main problem is that the quartet are missing an 'anthem'. This release has no "Flying Whales" or "Remembrance". No outstanding moment that makes you stand back and say "FUCK." It's quite unremarkable and understated - though I suppose that's exactly the tone they were aiming for. The drab artwork is perfectly indicative of this - and we have no reason to complain. Love it or hate it - "Magma" is certainly imperfect, but by no means a failure. They're still Gojira.

Everyone who’s even somewhat into metal knows all about Gojira and the music they produce, so a convoluted backstory probably isn’t necessary here. Succinctly, they have been dominating the world with their particular brand of groove metal, and have made five albums of greatness in that time – each one having their own spin but still retaining that Gojira core. Their albums are all great but I have a certain leaning towards The Way of All Flesh, citing its interesting song structure and catchy riffs mixed with great production as the main reasons why. However, all of their albums are of excellent quality, at least for me.

Unfortunately, their sixth output of Magma is by far the least interesting of all their albums.

Prior to this album even getting a mention, the Duplantier brothers’ mother died in 2015. Obviously that’s devastating news for anyone and my condolences still go out to them a year on. They ended up cancelling tours, as anyone would, and I suspect some time to grieve. Now I’m not suggesting that the death of their mother totally influenced the music on offer here, but I hesitate to say it had no effect. Magma is particularly lighter in its delivery; solemnity and atmosphere outweighs the groove and harshness present in previous albums. Where an opener like “Explosia” delivers power and punch, here we are treated, for lack of a better term, to “The Shooting Star,” which is basically a heavy-ish post-rock opening track that neither warms the listener up for what’s to come, nor does it elicit any excitement from them, as the track meanders along with some standard riffing and basic drumming by Gojira’s standards, with some lame cleans reverberating over it. Not a good start, and it doesn’t improve.

To be completely fair, though, notwithstanding the fact that “The Shooting Star” is a plodding something-or-other, that is actually one of the stronger tracks here, which is a real shame because the opener is so light and feathery. The following track “Silvera” introduces the heaviness, but this track is actually worse because the riff doesn’t really invigorate me, and the chorus is far too clean even for Gojira’s standards, losing any of the lustre that was scraped up from the verses. Ultimately the song is too safe and doesn’t do anything to shine or stand apart other than being “a song by Gojira.”

This is possibly where Magma ultimately fails – it’s perception of safeness. Too many songs are safely written and don’t stray into any interesting territory. Before the album was released, word got out that the songs were going to be shorter than previously, focusing on the shorter attention spans of today’s music consumers. Firstly, assuming that’s actually a reason why, that’s quite standardised. Secondly, that was disappointing because their longer songs such as “The Art of Dying” and “Into the Wilderness” from previous exploits showcase the evolution of songs to their bombastic conclusions, a progression that I feared would be lost here. Unfortunately, sometimes I hate being right, because some songs here could’ve been fleshed out so much more to include extra riffs, a solo, or any number of infinite things that may have galvanised the album, but they played it too safe. “Stranded” goes for a verse-chorus-bridge-chorus flow which ultimately leaves us with little encouragement to replay it. If there’s no surprises around the corner, or any hook, something to grab onto, songs tend to float away in our memory aether, and that’s not good when Gojira are known for hooking us in.

Ironically, when they do try something new, it tends to fail. The title track, for example, tries a weird riff/note pattern that actively sounds annoying, and, being the longest song here, should do something to hold me, but just like “The Shooting Star,” it just tends to be there. I can’t understand how a band that historically was best at writing long songs and keeping them entertaining can output such mediocrity in the source of “Magma,” a song that sounds like it’s really trying to make you like it but you can’t, no matter how much it tries to entice. And then there’s a song like “Low Lands” that is quite possibly the most boring track here. Soft quasi-riffs over some minimalistic drumming and a swathe of clean vocals for its first four or so minutes that go absolutely nowhere. Its stagnation is so strong that when the song picks up – and that’s a term I’m using quite loosely – it’s lost all of its charm, and then ends suddenly. A six minute song shouldn’t end suddenly, and especially not a Gojira album.

I’m yet to mention the two worst songs here, though. “Yellow Stone” is 79 seconds of sludge metal whatever – a filler track in every sense of the word, and one that should not be here on their shortest album. But the real atrocity comes in the form of “Liberation.” This instrumental closer is not what you would expect, and I don’t mean that positively. What we have here is possibly a drunken acoustic jam around a campfire that the band may have accidentally recorded one day and then said, “hey, if we add this to the end of our next album, we don’t have to actually write a tenth song!” The problem here is that “Low Lands” was a poor penultimate choice, and what the listener wants is something commanding to end with, but instead we are left with some random outtake of them mucking about (surely!) where the weak guitar lines could not even be bothered to stay in time with the bongo drums. It’s not only a poor choice, but it actually makes no sense in the context of the album. None of the three-and-a-half minutes here deserve to have the Gojira name planted on it, especially a closing track to an already inferior album, and I declare it the worst song they’ve ever penned.

Magma is as frustrating as it is sad. You listen to all the songs and you know that the members did not suddenly lose their ability to play, because clearly they’re all still solidly adept at their respective roles. It’s just the way they’re used here that makes you shake your head and pine for their older ways. Mario was known as a massive drummer, delivering beats and fills with expertise that only he knows. Here he is demoted to a rock beat and the occasional flair only when necessary. For a man of his unwavering talents, it’s simply not good enough. And then Joe, the older brother, has some excellent clean vocals that are used far too much here. “The Shooting Star,” “Magma,” and especially “Low Lands” could’ve all benefitted from some harsh vocals, but we are relegated to hearing too many of his cleans. “Stranded” may have been a stronger song if the bridge wasn’t weakened by cleans. It worked in the past, but it doesn’t here, and that’s a real shame. And then the guitar work is still as skilful as they’ve been in the past, but the choices made here just don’t work. Instead of big riffs that groove along, we are too often left with the dregs. I hate to continue picking on “Low Lands,” but the minimalist riffs do nothing to charge the song and we’re left wondering when things are going to improve. And this is why Magma is so frustrating: the members of Gojira still have the chops but decided to abandon what they can do best in the name of progression and change. I have no problem with change but here it all just falls flat.

Is there anything good about this album? Sure there is. “The Cell” is by far the best song here, with its polyrhythmic opening riff that pops up again later on and gives the song – and the album, arguably – some much-needed power. Ironically, it’s the shortest song here, after saying that Gojira are best with their longer songs. The following song “Stranded,” while not as good, probably works as a logical follow-up, giving this one-two punch as easily the best part of the album. “Pray” is not a particularly great song but after the title track it’s then nice to hear something punchy, and especially the opening it gives us something to hang onto. The song is a minor highlight in an otherwise dour album, with some nice sections in it, including the bridge and the riff after it, even if it is fleeting. Furthermore, if I’m reaching for straws, “The Shooting Star” isn’t a god-awful song when pitted against other stuff like “Magma” and “Low Lands,” but still needs loads of improvement. I also have no issues with the overall production. It’s probably befitting of this type of music – not too loud, but not too soft, and all instruments and vocals are mixed with the correct settings.

It makes me sad to write a poor review for a Gojira album. I’ve loved everything they’ve done up to this point, and Magma just falls flat. “The Cell” is an obvious highlight, and there are other bits and pieces scattered around the album that do work, but then you have songs like “Magma,” “Silvera,” “Only Pain,” and “Low Lands” that simply don’t work. Then there’s “Yellow Stone” and “Liberation” where the former is worthless and the latter is completely unforgivable. Perhaps the death of the Duplantiers’ mother hasn’t fully left them, and I still say that’s okay, or perhaps their need to mix it up a little bit forced their hand. Either way, this album is sub-par, not worth the four years since L’Enfant Sauvage, and I still hold out hope that they can get back to their best on their seventh album.

Gojira’s latest is a bit underwhelming. Simplified, often less heavy, and less energetic, it still checks all the boxes so to speak, but it’s woefully inconsistent. At times it’s forcefully aggressive, and other times it channels slower, mediocre groove metal, complete with chugs and forgettable (and even annoying) riffs, Gojira’s quality fluctuates with their differing levels of heaviness, and with both their experimentation and lack thereof.

Magma sounds a lot like Mastodon in places, but instead of doing a fill every other measure the drummer plays off the chugging guitars, and sometimes that’s the only way to really tell them apart. It’s definitely in some of the riffing, but the clean vocals really create this similarity. The singing that possibly makes up a majority of the vocals doesn’t have much feeling to it, even though it’s performed well otherwise. Gojira’s strong point doesn’t seem to be the relative softness and slowness of pure groove metal, or sludginess either.

A few of the songs have promisingly heavy sections, but they typically end up sputtering out. None of the main riffs are particularly strong, vicious, or memorable, and the rest end up just being chugs. I hear some polyrhythms in songs such as The Cell or Low Lands but the way they are performed makes it seem like Gojira is including them just to fulfill requirements, and they are integrated in disappointingly bland ways and without much passion. Most of the album is in 4/4 anyway.

The two instrumentals on this album take up a small percentage of Magma’s runtime but they emphasize the lacking nature of this album and how Gojira doesn’t seem to know exactly what they’re going for. Neither of them are the sort of wanky prog instrumentals composed just to show off the musicians’ talents, they are rather interludes and segues although they don’t even seem to accomplish that. Any subpar doom or groove metal band could’ve jammed out Yellow Stone, hit record, and slapped on some cool effects. It’s not even a proper interlude because it still sounds like the rest of the album. Liberation could’ve been a decent intermission, but instead it closes the Mehalbum, a choice I don’t understand. It sounds different from the rest of Magma, some acoustic noodling and hand percussion played together to get an ambient, chill vibe. Low Lands actually had a bit of buildup and it’s one of the more memorable tracks, more atmospheric, but it doesn’t seem as though it deserves a coda.

As much as it may seem like I’ve shat all over this, it’s really not that bad. Magma is proving to be a grower, as others have said about the singles. Despite inconsistency in quality, it’s good to hear that Gojira can write slightly different styles of songs. Still, there’s not a whole lot going into this. They’re still trying to fulfill all the requirements for their sound but it’s lacking the complexity, the heaviness, and most importantly, much of the inspiration.

Top tracks: Silvera, Low Lands

Gojira has always been a band that flirted on the margins of the accessible in heavy music, basing a lot of their songwriting upon a foundation of simplistic, eager chugging rhythms and clear nods to once fashionable niches like the dreaded 'nu metal'. What clearly separated was their ability to elevate this sort of riffing component to a realm more transcendent, poetic and majestic, breathing new life with a combination of great studio production that really let them feel out those chords and mutes; and of course the almost hymnal nature of Joe Duplantier's grating yet melodic vocal tone, which is almost like the offspring of Pink Floyd's hypnotic, drugged, and harmonic quality with Neurosis harshness. But I think Magma, the Frenchmen's sixth full-length, is an example how regurgitating very basic riff cycles can only take you so far, and the record suffers slightly for this.

Don't get me wrong, there is more than enough material here for a solid, I daresay even 'great' EP, and much of that arrives in the first four tracks. In particular, "Stranded" is one I'd toss on any mix tape, which does wonders with those chugging patterns as it offsets them with the spikes of higher pitched guitar and a rousing, uplifting, if predictable chorus. I even enjoyed the soothing, cleaner vocal harmonies that came in the bridge. "The Cell" also has its moments with those churning palm mute harmony patterns and the faint melodies they plaster over them, although even this track relies on an extremely primitive groove riff that I didn't feel could contribute much to its overall composure after maybe 3-4 repetitions. But honestly, there is a very consistent opening 15-16 minutes with a lot of subtlety alongside the jackhammering grooves, a few twists and surprises that help augment that banal 'heaviness' forced by a lot of the palm mute focus, very much in the style that they mastered in 2005 with From Mars to Sirius, or its superb successor The Way of All Flesh. Granted, there is no "Oroborus" of "Toxic Garbage Island" among these, but I'd say that the quality does hit the standard of L'Enfant sauvage.

Where it does NOT hit that standard is in the two vapid instrumental tunes, "Yellow Stone" and "Liberation", which have nothing on the excellent "Wild Healer" from the prior album. The first is an oozing, circular, bluesy Sabbath piece with a little bit of ambient accompaniment, which goes just nowhere for me, and the last was a traditional acoustic guitar piece with some percussion that is a pretty boring afterthought to all that came before it. Hell, "Liberation" seems like such a mistake that I thought someone had mixed up the production of the CD. Otherwise, there were some cuts like "Magma" itself, "Pray", or the bass-swerving chug onslaught of "Only Pain" which basically rips its 'surprise' riff off the much catchier "Stranded" that did little to nothing interesting. When Joe is shouting "just wanted to be good" in the middle of that last tune, I was forced to agree with him. "Low Lands" would have been a solid closer for my imaginative EP version of this album, since I like how he works the vocals throughout, and it's constant climbing feel, but even that is just not enough to save this from sub-greatness.

Sonically, I don't have an issue here, since it sounds as crisp, pulverizing and rich as the couple albums before it, but much as the production emboldens the parts of Magma that I do like, it also accents the parts that I don't. The lyrics are alright, but tunes like "Silvera" rely on a lot of nu metal, groove or hardcore cliche like lines and images that don't do as much for the imagination as even the very basest riffing they perform. So, ultimately, was this worth a four year wait? Half of it is a worthwhile followup to L'Enfant sauvage, but the other half seems like the ideas in the Gojira camp have run dry, and the ironic elegant primacy that fuels their songwriting has petered out to a more neutral plane in which their upward creative trajectory has halted. I'll still slap a passing grade on it, because I get enough emotional resonance out of its stronger pieces, but I can guarantee that I won't often feel a compulsion to listen through in its entirety, skipping those instrumentals entirely and giving or taking 2-3 other tunes.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Over the course of a decade, France’s Gojira have grown to represent the next stage of heavy music’s evolution. If you’ve seen them live then nobody can dispute the fact that for all the technical brilliance of their peers such as Mastodon and Lamb of God, there’s something so emotive and soulful about whatever the Duplantier brothers do that makes it seem like Gojira are in a complete league of their own. With their sixth album, “Magma”, they continue to traverse to further lands that are so eloquently dominant over the ocean of modern metal bands out there.

Just like the layered tectonic structure of the Earth, “Magma” has been crafted upon foundations of varying emotions. On the surface you've got Gojira simply evolving their hammering sound into more simplistic rhythms, like ‘Stranded’, while sounding just as heavy as before. But, beneath the surface is a natural ebbing progression that lies deep in the roots of the Mt. Gojira. On ‘The Cell’ and title track you’ve got Mario’s inevitably stellar technicality on drums but it’s the wisps of guitar from Christian Andreu on the title track or Jean-Michel Labadie’s murky bass in the previous song, ‘Yellow Stone’ that boils the intensity towards the special, heated captivation that only Gojira can conjure.

With “Magma”, the relationship of music and melody is solidified by the sad passing of the Duplantier brother's mother in 2015. Compared their brazenly heavy catalogue, this loss has impacted the mood of this album greatly. The intense emotions contort from a slow kindling fire to blazing infernos of rage that characterize the title of the album: something boiling and ready to erupt. The serene intro, ‘The Shooting Star’, with its longing lyrics of “When you get to the other side, please send a sign” and pensive riffs exemplifies the calmer and reflective side of the album while transitions between imposing vocals and explosive guitar slides on ‘Pray’, plus the screeching whammy hooks on ‘Only Pain’, identify the extreme and severe cascade of emotions from the same tragedy. Having been immortalised within this album, “Magma” feels more like a celebration rather than a mournful eulogy of Patricia Rosa Duplantier.

Though far from accessible, the music on “Magma” is just as diverse as ever. Mario’s drumming is endlessly meandering round each guitar hook that his brother, Joe, can throw at him and the sound of the bass lines-when exposed- can only be described as the echoes of the Earth’s plates grinding. Joe Duplantier also maintains the elasticity of his own riffing with death metal influences on ‘Silvera’ and progresses the flexibility of his tender clean vocals in various occasions throughout “Magma” with success, particularly in ‘Low Lands’.

Would Gojira be the same beast that they are now without the conviction behind the music? No. Their ferocious environmental beliefs and maternal spiritual guidance on “Magma” are matched only by the sophistication of their instrumentation. Here, the music acts as a medium to which their messages are conveyed in a way that only makes Gojira’s songs all the more compelling. Music and passion: one cannot live without the other.

Originally written for http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/70996/Gojira-Magma/

''Magma'' is a dull and plodding post-metal output with a constantly depressive atmosphere. Chugging groove metal riffs in the key of Pantera meet tiring riffs with a melancholic undertone in the style of Sólstafir and a few discordant guitar sounds that recall a light version of Voivod during the E-Force years. The humming and droning bass guitar and the tired drum play manage to remain unspectacular throughout the entire album. The vocals are diversified yet somewhat directionless since they are lacking an own identity. They are either psychedelic and effect-ridden, slightly clean and melodic but unimpressive or more aggressive as in previous releases.

Let's dig a little bit deeper into the negative elements of what might be Gojira's worst output to date. Things start badly with the opener ''The Shooting Star''. Usually, an opener should either kick things off with a bang or foreshadow the things to come. This one does neither and is simply an overlong and repetitive post-metal tune without any song writing qualities. The length of some tracks is actually a reoccurring issue on this release. As soon as the band finally develops a gripping atmosphere or comes around with a tight riff, the idea gets repeated for minutes and loses all of its initial appeal. That's why the title track ''Magma'' is only average at best while the unsatisfying ''Low Lands'' is even harder to digest.

The band gets worst though when its songs are purely instrumental. There is no reason in the world for a song like ''Yellow Stone'' to even exist. On a rather short record with ten tracks, there is simply no place for a numbing sound check that makes the listeners waste seventy-nine seconds of their lives. This song doesn't follow or build up anything and is obviously an attempt at being an uninspired filler but it's actually so bad that it gets more negative attention than it was supposed to get. The worst joke on this album is the album closer ''Liberation''. Random and simplistic acoustic guitar sounds that remind me of a clumsy teenager that grabs a guitar for the first time in his life and tries to play some random sounds meet boring tribal percussion elements that manage to be ether repetitive or out of rhythm for three and a half painful minutes. There is no chemistry or harmony whatsoever between the two instruments and it only makes the record longer after the previous tune was already excessive. This might sound severe but these two instrumentals shouldn't even exist and it's almost offensive to include them on an album that is not named ''Demos, Jams & Outtakes'' with a warning sticker ''Only for fanboys/fangirls who would buy anything from this band''.

It's really tough to find anything really positive about this output aside from its coherent oppressive atmosphere. Maybe the shorter songs with vocals aren't so bad at times. ''Silvera'' has a decent main riff and some solid hypnotizing guitar and vocal melodies that recall System Of A Down. ''Stranded'' also has a certain appeal thanks to its mix of groove metal riffs and progressive guitar sounds that meet angry yet liberating vocals leading to a quite catchy chorus that could also come from KoRn. This song reminds me of a slightly more psychedelic version of nu-metal that was popular fifteen years ago. I guess most people will hate this tune but since I somehow grew up with this kind of music I may have a sympathetic feeling of nostalgia for it.

The few catchier tunes that were chosen as singles are acceptable but can't save an otherwise plodding record. I know that this frustrating output was created under difficult circumstances but the band should have just stopped recording this album, taken a break and come back with a more poignant and liberating song writing that wouldn't be influenced by those depressing events. What counts in the end is the final product and not how or why it was made and my verdict is that this sub-par record is so underwhelming that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The name Gojira usually stands for something monstrous but this here is just disappointing, elegiac and vapid.