After releasing two critically acclaimed killer albums – “The Way of All Flesh” (2008) and “L’Enfant Sauvage” (2012) – the French Godzilla of progressive metal, GOJIRA, did something rather controversial with their next offering. Progressive death-metal purists were certainly in for a wild ride with all those nu-metal-esque power choruses and all. I reckon that 10 years ago, just before this particular album came out, using the word “radio-friendly” in the same sentence with GOJIRA might have made you a village idiot of sorts in certain metal circles. Released on June 17th, 2016, via Roadrunner Records, the band’s sixth studio album entitled “Magma” turned out to be GOJIRA‘s most atmospheric and accessible album, on the one hand, and yet, on the other hand, it was also one of their most intense affairs. I mean, for a GOJIRA affair, the album sounded almost “soft,” here and there, but obviously it was far from soft compared to practically anything else in the metal realm. By this point, the band had built an aura of not even remotely sounding like anything else on this planet. The previous album had grabbed us by our delicate private parts so tightly that I reckon it would be an understatement to say this follow-up endeavor was more than highly anticipated at the time. While hype is typically quite the double-edged sword, “Magma” made good on every promise made by its predecessor, albeit the album was not necessarily what the fans were expecting at the time; even though the classic GOJIRA sound is somewhat tempered with progressive flourishes of a tad more atmospheric variety, the band’s very soul has remained intact when you really take it all in. The brothers Duplantier had to deal with their mother’s passing away during the album sessions, and the band’s usual esoteric and political musings were toned down in favor of a more personal grief and anguish. This actually makes the album stand out in a rather poignant fashion.
The album opener, “The Shooting Star,” pushes the new sound to the forefront right from the get-go. The main riff is not perhaps as heavy and proggy as those classic riffs on the previous albums, but it sure is heavy enough to move mountains – a mountainshaker of a riff, as someone once said on one of those dubious online music forums. Then, of course, the song is seasoned with those lovely, familiar GOJIRA ingredients: Joe Duplantier‘s trademark screams that fall somewhere between shouting and grunting and Mario Duplantier‘s iconic drumming. In its slow-crushing emotion, the opener represents a nice change of pace and tone. The best online description of the song I’ve ever seen dubbed “The Shooting Star” as the best song to introduce GOJIRA to someone who enjoys psychedelics. Yeah, why not, I guess…
The next track, the swirling Middle-Eastern-sounding banger, “Silvera,” was released as a video single back in the day (directed by Drew Cox), and the riffage is quite unanimously regarded as one of the best GOJIRA riffs ever. Compared to the band’s “old” sound, this banger features more clean vocals, which is also one of the most prominent new features on this album overall. Lyrically, the song is perhaps not in line with the rest of the album, with its animal rights theme thrown in the grief-stricken landscapes, but then again, who cares? Some fans do not seem to appreciate the lyrics of this banger, in particular, but even if you don’t like the lyrics, you should be able to appreciate the rest of the package, eh? The driving main riff slaps you right in the face as soon as the song kicks off and never stops slapping, so what is there not to like? Besides, if the lyrics are all you care about, maybe you should stick to reading poems?
“Stranded” is another high-octane riffer that steamrolls forward with brute force, save for the occasional turn into a somewhat dreamy and atmospheric territory with clean vocals and all. The only negative thing to say about the song is its length: clocking in at the four-and-a-half-minute mark, it is relatively short for a GOJIRA banger. Some fans obviously feared at the time that this French monolith would end up taking a turn into radio-friendly rock with songs like these, comparing them to MASTODON in this respect. Then again, even the latter-day endeavors by this Atlanta sludge-prog bunch are right on the money, so…
THE standout track of this selection is the epic title track; GOJIRA has always been about incredible guitar tones, but the iconic riff in this song is marinated in such a delicious guitar tone that you could almost dub it as the song’s very hook. YouTube is littered with tutorials on how to obtain this particular guitar tone, so I reckon I’m not entirely wrong when I say something like this. That iconic riff sounds almost as if the notes were all pinched harmonics, but I guess they aren’t. Whatever technique was employed in producing this haunting sound, the riff certainly has a habit of sticking in your head.
In a way, this album turned out to be GOJIRA‘s equivalent of that one “Black Album” released in the early 1990s – a bit too mature for your typical adolescent thrash-vest hooligan, perhaps, but still too good to pass; then, years later, those same thrash-vest rogues will cherish the album as one of the band’s best efforts. With all the relatively short song lengths, cohesive songcraft, and clean vocals, “Magma” instantly came off as the band’s most accessible album to date when it came out. GOJIRA‘s sonic evolution documented on this album is simply awesome – even the somewhat odd decision to wrap up the album with nothing short of an eccentric track, after the haunting crescendos of “Low Lands,” as the closer, “Liberation” unfolds almost as a meditative sonic trip. Considering the tragic background of this album, I reckon the song is about being liberated by death, which charges this minimalist and ethereal coda of the album with a particularly poignant, yet peaceful air. What a great album!
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- The Shooting Star
- Silvera
- The Cell
- Stranded
- Yellow Stone (instrumental)
- Magma
- Pray
- Only Pain
- Low Lands
- Liberation
Lineup
Joe Duplantier – vocals, guitars, flute
Christian Andreu – guitars
Jean-Michel Labadie – bass
Mario Duplantier – drums
Label
Roadrunner Records
