Admittedly, I was pretty late on the Gojira train. I always knew they were a force to be reckoned with as far as the modern metal genre goes, but for some reason I just didn’t pick up on them. That was until they released the single for their new album Fortitude, “Born for One Thing“. I was absolutely blown away by this track. The blistering verses followed by the airy choruses, intersected with chuggy fight riffs, a showcase of the best that the genre has to offer. The last minute of this song alone raises my blood pressure, the main riff half timed with some extra pinch harmonics thrown in for good measure, into that syncopated and mega-bell sludge metal rhythm with enough ghost notes to scare off the Warrens. And then the fucking breakdown, disgusting, dissonant chugging backed by melodic and reverb drenched guitar harmonics. It really creates something truly larger than life. After this song I fell down the rabbit hole.
And Fortitude absolutely delivers. It doesn’t constantly keep up the brutality of that first song, but it doesn’t really need to. “Amazonia” is a brilliant tune, bringing to the forefront some environmentally conscious lyrics about the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest, and how it affects their local indigenous communities. The tribal percussion blends beautifully with the band’s typical instrumentals, the highlight being a massive, riff-filled chorus reminiscent of Mastodon.
“The greatest miracle
Is burning to the ground”
“Another World” and “Hold On” bring in some very welcomed melodic guitar work into the album, the latter specifically seeming like a bit more of a departure for the band. The tribal sounding group vocals lead into an Iron Maiden sounding drum and guitar build up, something that threw me pretty off guard at first. Somehow the band uses this sound very effectively without any level of corniness and helps this by throwing some chunky guitar riffs into the mix along with some arena-ready group chants. The second half of this track features Joe Duplantier’s unbelievable guitar tapping and more melodic vocals that just sounds so Gojira.
“The Chant” brings in the most radio friendly sound the band have tackled, kicking off after the purely tribal interlude track “Fortitude“. The guitars on this track are noticeably fuzzier, a departure from the bands typical sound of punishing 5150’s. As the name suggests, the hook consists of a massive sound chant that is very, very infectious. Typical vocals are rather sparing in this track, the titular chants mostly being broken up by some melodic guitar soloing.
But don’t get me wrong, this album is not without some truly punishing moments.
“New Found” is comprised of some stomping riffs with a good dose of polyrhythmic grooviness. Something about the chorus on this track in particular reminds just how fucking good Gojira are at writing epic, mountain sized hooks. The chorus is then brought down to an ambient and moody break into one of the biggest riffs of the album. It’s the longest on the tracklist at about 6 and a half minutes but flies by just as effortlessly as any other song. “Sphinx” also gives us a good hit of adrenaline, with plenty of the bands patented ‘Gojira slides’ that so many modern metal bands have borrowed, and Joe Duplantier’s death metal infused growls on this track sound extra menacing. As the track progresses it doesn’t exactly do anything to stand out, but it’s definitely not enough to warrant a skip.
“Into the Storm” keeps up the heaviness and is also a great reminder that Mario Duplaniter is by far one of the top five drummers currently working in metal. The track starts with a proggy ride/snare cross rhythm backed by some absolutely blistering double kicks. This then transitions into a guitar riff that is a direct tribute to Meshuggah’s notoriously challenging song “Bleed“. Not only does it fit the song well, it almost seems like a tongue-in-cheek way of the band saying “yes, we can play Bleed.”
The penultimate track “Trails” is by far the most subdued track on the album. Moody, palm muted guitar parts are compliment by Joe’s haunting clean vocals and some tight drum grooves. Song like these can often feel like the band checking off an item on a list, “okay, we’ve got the token slow jam”, but this song genuinely stands on its own as a great post-metal track.
This all leads up to the finale, “Grind.” Pure. Fucking. Insanity. A break-neck pace with Mario’s drumming modulating as the guitars shift from chug-fuelled pickscraped madness into to noisy and tremolo picked harmonics. The verse features some rapidly chugged guitars and some oh-so-satisfying ride cymbal grooves, regularly breaking out into some rack tom blast beats and frenzied double kick. It is a massive flex from one of the most technically proficient heavy bands in the world. It’s absolutely relentless up until the halfway mark, where the band transitions into a hauntingly beautiful and almost ambient melodic section. An impeccable bass groove underneath some reverb-drenched guitar leads. My biggest complaint with this song, and honestly the album, being the fade out. To me it just feels like a bit of an anti-climax after such a sonically assaulting record.
With Fortitude, Gojira have proven that they can indeed incorporate some radio-friendly sounds and do it tastefully. Massive choruses, arena-ready chants and some punishing fucking riffs, Fortitude is a prime example of everything that makes modern metal good. Gojira are here to stay.
Fortitude is out now via Roadrunner, and can be purchased or streamed here.
9/10