Gojira - Fortitude (2021) [Official Digital Download]

"Give away what you don't need, because one day we have to part with everything and if we don't, we just become ghosts trapped between dimensions," says Joe Duplantier about a song from the new Gojira album. It is true that here he formulates the consumer-critical message of the associated texts. However, the quote fits just as well to the music. Less war at Gojira has always been more. And so the band impresses on their seventh album with how they create something monumental out of relatively few (supposedly) simple means.

In the opener "Born For a Cause," the riffs around the ears – the marks compressed to a relentless four-minute period in which there is only one direction: forward. Die cogs grab appeared once more so perfectly, how to get it currently is comparable, otherwise, only Meshuggah and Tool. The precise alternation between rattling palm-mute attacks and screeching chords creates a permanent push-and-release feeling. Dying tension culminates when the guitars clearly recede into the background in the heart of the song and you suddenly look directly into the throat of Jean Michel Labadies monstrous bassline.

Gojira have not lost a bit of their power, one immediately feels comfortable again in the cosmos of the flying whales, even though five years have passed since" Magma". Mario Duplantier is again playing drums that are both extremely song-serving and creative (I tell you: the guy still conjures up the metal's "In The Air Tonight" at some point), Joe's brother commando snorts roar like battle cries in Zack Snyder films, the lyrics oscillate between environmental and social activism. All this has already been discussed sufficiently on the occasion of previous albums – but what is new? Although the band CI remains intact throughout, actually quite a lot.

Already on" Magma " Gojira bring up the crust of their identity and let so far hidden springs gush. This was reflected in a subsequent acoustic Jam, as well as progressive, slightly psychedelic nuances. The band continues to pursue both tendencies on "Fortitude". In the center of the album they cumulate to the preliminary climax. There is a campfire atmosphere in the title track. All otherwise present suspense seems to have fallen away from the musicians, they clink and knock loosely, consciously sometimes a beat goes next to the beat. Two minutes, a short break at the beginning of the second side of the Album. Then Gojira pull together the just lost established motif tautly and marry it with their sound world. Joe Duplantier calls "The Chant" a "healing ritual" and dominates it-with a hypnotic, wordless vocal melody. Die pushing guitars, surprising with bluesy passages. Mario drums the piece stoically in low-tempo fend off, accentuates the groove with a jingle ring and preserves through skilful use of a shaker and set to the point Fills from the monotony.

"The Chant" stands out clearly in the biography of the band. Instead of losing the connection to her, however, he deepens it even more. This works so well because Gojira places links in other parts of the album. Jew's harp and ritual rehearsals point the way in the traditional direction in the "Amazonia", strongly influenced by Sepultura. Mario experiments in a" Different world "with percussion, through" New "sound choir and"Roots" drums. Later repeats " Die Wege "with clear vocals and Rockfeel die altogether gentler gait of"The Chant". We encounter classic Gojira vibes in " Into The Storm "with a tricky"bleed "pattern and the deep growls of"Sphinx". Not to mention "Grind": The Closer closes the album circle with angry pickslides and drum thunderstorms to "Geboren Für Eine Sache" with a band-typical crusher, this time of the more aggressive kind.

By the way, the band recorded at Joe Duplantier's Silver Cord Studio in Queens. Together with mixer Andy Wallace (Slayer, Rage Against The Machine), the frontman is responsible for the impressive sound, in which the spiritual, almost esoteric notes of the album come into their own. On "Fortitude" Gojira combine brutal hardness, technical demands and a complex emotional world with groove and accessibility. Again, they move a little closer to the 5/5-point rating. So there is only one thing left to say:

"Wake up to the sound of fate / Let this song ring in your bones and lift yourself up!"

TRACKLIST

1. Gojira - Born For One Thing
2. Gojira - Amazonia
3. Gojira - Another World
4. Gojira - Hold On
5. Gojira - New Found
6. Gojira - Fortitude
7. Gojira - The Chant
8. Gojira - Sphinx
9. Gojira - Into The Storm
10. Gojira - The Trails
11. Gojira - Grind



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