CD Review - Gojira

Artist: Gojira
Album: From Mars To Sirius
Year: 2006

I picked this CD up the other day at FYE. I had my first introduction to the French band Gojira at last years Metallica show in Atlanta, GA, where they were an opener before Lamb of God. Most of their songs were to me quite boring and hard to grasp in a live setting, but a few stood out and hinted that they might be a great band to get into. So when I went to the store and saw this disc with its awesome album artwork (created by guitarist / vocalist Joe Duplantier) featuring a cosmic whale drifting away from two mysterious planets, I knew I couldn't put it off buying it any longer.

First off, I always feel its good to classify a band into a genre (or several genres) to have some perspective. I would say that Gojira are influenced by typical mainstream metal acts as other reviews have suggested (Messhugah and Tool), but their sound also shows influence by more underground or less accessible acts such as prog-rockers Mastodon and Polish black metal bands like Behemoth. They fall somewhere between prog, post, and death/black metal. They feature all of the atmospherics of post metal, the non-traditional structures of prog, and the brutal pounding of death which gives them a very unique fusion sound which is original and refreshing.

This third album from the band is full of all these qualities as well as others. Opener "Ocean Planet" is probably my favorite song with its seamless transitions from brutal metal riffings to airy chord passages. Joe Duplantier is the obvious leader of the band and most likely contributes most of the songs riffs and structures. His voice is piercing and soulful, yet has a huge amount of energy to progress the songs and keep vocal passages from becoming stagnant. On this album there are screams, growls, yells, and even clean vocals. His ability to tackle all of these styles is very impressive. Then there's the riffs. They are heavy, technical, and original. Again, think black metal meets prog. The super heavy evil riffage is constantly being interlaced with beautiful strummed, arpeggiated, or picked passages building into a dense amalgam of sonic cloud swirling around the listeners head ("Ocean Planet," "Unicorn," "World To Come," "From Mars - To Sirius"). In addition to singing and playing, Joe also takes on the task of mixing the album. Although letting a member of the recorded band handle mixing can sometimes backfire, in this case it works. The drums have plenty of punch, the vocals sit right where they need to be, and the guitars have lots of dynamics and clarity.

There's plenty to be said of how good the album is, but I have my complaints. Mainly, the drummer is not on par with the songwriting skill of Joe Duplantier. I am just assuming that Joe writes most of these songs, but the drummer relenquishes to playing double bass or blast beats over many of his more complex riffs. The cymbal work is great, sure, but the kick drum is one of the most important factors in any type of rock music. Especially so in a band with very complex riffing that needs some kind of of bass drum pump to keep it moving. Rather than complimenting the riffs with rhythmically challenging foot work,  the drummer here would prefer to fall back on rhythms that have been done a thousand times before. He uses his kick drum as a fourth instrument playing something totally different from the others and keeps the songs from being as original as they could. Dont get me wrong, the drums aren't all bad, and this guy obviously has some technical skill (See the opener and "World To Come" as evidence), but he still holds a band that could be great from their ultimate potential.

Final Verdict:
4/5 Stars
An album full of sonic variety, progressive structures, brutal riffing, excellent musicianship from Joe Duplantier, and an original approach. However, the band is plagued by sub par drumming which is a constant drag to the songs power and originality.

Track Picks:
Ocean Planet
Where Dragons Dwell
In The Widerness


Track List:
1. Ocean Planet
2. Backbone
3. From The Sky
4. Unicorn
5. Where Dragons Dwell
6. The Heaviest Matter In The Universe
7. Flying Whales
8. In The Wilderness
9. World To Come
10. From Mars
11. To Sirius
12. Global Warming

First Gig Reflections

I played my first paying gig at Bouchez Bar & Grill in Warner Robins, GA last night. I got there around eight or so and with the excellent help of my roadie, Kevin Tuttle, I was set up and ready to go by 9:30. Unfortunately, it was another 30 minutes before I started my set which was plagued by several  foul ups.

First off, just let me say that I am absolutely my biggest critic. I'll be the first to criticize other peoples work, but I'm no hypocrite. I judge myself just as harshly and to teh same standard. The main problem was with my backing tracks. For some reason, despite having decent monitors to mix them through and spending hours upon hours fine tuning, certain critical elements were lost in the live mix. Most noticeably was the absence of bass guitar. NONE of the songs had any audible sign of having a bass guitar. This especially affected "The Judge" and "Zombie Hunter" which feature bass only sections. Another unfortunate symptom was the reduced volume, and in some instances, complete absence, of intro tracks and samples. My opening music for "The Drone Machine" had very low volume, while the rest of the song was fine. The intermission track, "Voices," was missing its synth track and all of the overlapped voice parts. All that remained was the incredibly loud guitar feedback. Finally, and most tragically, "The New Gods of The Galaxy," one of my favorite songs, was missing the voice over by Optimus prime during the bridge refrain and interlude to the final verse. Typically, Optimus' voice would come in and say "My name is Optimus Prime. We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet cybertron," and then  "Autobots, roll out!."  Every time I play this song, I get goose bumps during that part, and it was a major disappointment for them to be cut out.

As far as drums went, the cymbals and snare were very pronounced and made it quite easy for me to stay in time. But the kick drum was utterly lost and for some reason the toms were the louder than everything else. Anyways, the most likely culprit for all these problems was a compressor or gate being placed somewhere in the signal chain. If I would have thought of it earlier in the set maybe I would have said something and got it fixed. I see this as a learning experience and next time I will take a more hands on approach to the soundcheck.

On the bright side, I nailed several songs and got a good amount of applause after each song. I enjoyed debuting my new song "Eight Headed Fire-Dragon," as well as getting to play my new guitar on stage for the first time. I met some new people and all around had a great night. I'd like to thank everyone who came out to support me.



www.youtube.com/watch

Setlist:
1. The Drone Machine
2. Earthless
3. Carrier
4. House of Clouds
5. Eight Headed Fire-Dragon / Thunderkiss '65 (White Zombie cover, intro only)
6. Red Suns Rays
7. Voices (Intermission)
8. The Judge
9. Zombie Hunter
10. Into The Void (Black Sabbath cover)
11. The New Gods of The Galaxy
12. Titan Rising

Overall play time: 1hr 10mins

1st Entry: Top Five Guitarists

First entry, YAY! Going to be posting random stuffs on here. Writings, CD reviews, concert reviews, poetry, ideas, updates on my music, top 10 lists. Pretty much anything I feel like.

This time its "My Top Five Guitarists of All Time"

1. Jimi Hendrix - yes its cliche, but when that man played guitar, something magical happened. Time stood till and rainbows erupted from the asses of dragons. He's amazing. He's a god. He played notes most could only dream of, but as my dad said, It was the notes he DIDN'T play that set him apart. His subtlety and emotion through the instrument are what set him apart from anyone then or since. What's there to say? Just listen to Machine Gun RIGHT NOW and all your questions and doubts will be answered.
2. Tony Iommi - the riff master. The lord of all that is heavy and creator of THE Heavy Metal style and sound. WAY before Korn and Meshuggah, he detuned all the way to C#. Even further than many bands today. He pioneered the tritone, a staple in metal, the chug, and his solos were damn amazing. Although not as flashy and grandiose as other contemporary 70's shredders, his originality and contribution to the metal genre solidify him as one of the best. After all, great guitar playing isn't all leads and acoustic melody. Its about rhythm. Rock hard, melt your face, blow your mind rhythm.
3. Jimmy Page - I will concede, although I am not a huge fan of his or Led Zeppelin's work, the man did amazing things with an acoustic guitar. His infusion of bluegrass, Americana, blues, and Jazz into rock 'n' roll is totally incredible, even though its not so original. Whether I like it or not, his influence has been cited by thousands of artists from many different genres, and this is a true testament to his versatility as an artist.
4. Matt Pike (High On Fire) - I am a bonafied High On Fire freak. I worship this band and idolize Matt Pike for his creativity and originality. For God's sake, the man's life is a freaking ode to Black Sabbath. As if pioneering THE Stoner metal sound with Sleep in the 90's wasn't enough, he went on to form one of the most crushing three-pieces ever. His evolution as an artist is fascinating. He's gone from playing low and slow, fuzzed out doom riffs in Sleep, to peeling faces with high energy Motorhead meets Sabbath riffage in High On Fire.  He has created a unique style of riffing that involves trilled power chords, wide vibrato, and accidental notes all tied together by ferocious double picking in C standard. Yeah, this dude tunes a half step lower than Iommi. He is the most bad ass of modern guitar players. His guitar has nine strings and he doesn't give a damn if he's different or weird. He's fucking Matt Pike and he'll eat your baby for breakfast.
5. Brent Hinds / Bill Kelliher (Mastodon) - I include these as a pair because their style so perfectly compliments each other and their sound would not be complete on their own. Brent had his beginnings as a bluegrass playin' banjo picker. This loose, droning sound has leaked over into his electric guitar playing and creates a truly unique and original sound. Their use of southern and blues inspired lead lines with terrifying rhythm surges creates a sound that is as much reminiscent of Metallica as it is Marshall Tucker. In contrast to Matt Pike, these guys throw back more to the progressive, artsy stylings of 70's rockers Jimmy Page and Rush. The speed with which they play is incredible, especially live, and their unison whilst playing incredibly complex articulated chord / scales is of the utmost impressiveness. No other guitar players or guitar player, besides the ones previously mentioned, have impressed me as much as these guys do. Rock on Mastodon!