Gojira’s The Way Of All Flesh

Wednesday, January 21, 2009 No Comments

Gojira come back with their fourth effort elephant-stomping all over your face. Staying far, far away from the deathcore breakdown trap, each section of every song pulls you back in or snaps you back out if you happened to get lost in the intoxicating trance… which you will. Catchy riffs are littered throughout the record, grinding down into those slow, sludgy grooves without losing an ounce of the metal cred Gojira has built for itself over the last decade. Delivering his signature cacophonous vocals, Joe Duplantier disappoints in neither performance nor lyrics, choosing to convey their messages (among them an environmental conscience) more poetically than most.

My standouts are “Vacuity,” which comes right out of the gate like a gladiator in the Colosseum, and “Wolf Down the Earth” which features some gorgeous guitar harmonies and arguably the best hook on the record. I’ll also send a nod to “Adoration for None” featuring Randy Blythe of on guest vocals – it’s nothing spectacular but he rarely lets you down. Honorable mention goes to “Yama’s Messengers” because, really, who can resist an unrelenting kick drum with an intensely slow guitar line?

Due to my recently-vacated position of Music Director of Active Rock at XM Satellite Radio, I have spent a ridiculous amount of time listening to metal records over the last two years and oftentimes experience burnout on particular bands and albums relatively quickly. I actually choose to listen to the Way Of All Flesh over and over again like I’m back in high school, inhaling every nuance. Most certainly my favourite album of 2008, Gojira begins a new regime with enough promise to be the new Mastodon.