Gojira – Magma

When it comes to my own personal music taste I wouldn’t normally put bands like this on my list, however, after witnessing French metal titans Gojira live, my whole world was turned upside down. For nearly two decades they have dominated the metal genre from musical masterpiece after musical masterpiece and they are back with their latest release; Magma.

With tracks like “Silvera” and “Stranded” (both of which were released as singles) there is no denying that Gojira are the undisputed kings of the riff, with powerful chords from guitarists Joe Duplantier and Christian Andreu and the thunderous bass of Jean-Michel Labadie. The chemistry between the band is next to none, especially when drummer Mario Duplantier is behind the kit adding in plenty of tasteful off-tempo drum fills.

From a collection of ground shaking riffs to a collection of atmospheric pieces of music where the band start to show their more experimental side. With frontman Joe Duplantier remaining at the helm as the producer for this album, the listener is introduced to more delay and reverb that lend a hand in creating this reviewer’s two favourite tracks; the mechanical “Pray” (a track that always makes me think of the Cybermen from Doctor Who) and the album’s title track “Magma.”

Even though this album has a couple of let downs, for example it’s much shorter than it’s predecessors and a couple of weak tracks (“The Shooting Star” being a prime example) this is still a fantastic piece of material. Other sources have labeled this the metal album of 2016, do I agree with this? Well, I am going to leave that up to you the listener to decide.

“Magma” is now available via Roadrunner Records.

Track Listing:
The Shooting Star / Silvera / The Cell / Stranded / Yellow Stone / Magma / Pray / Only Pain / Lowlands / Liberation