Gojira (band)

Gojira

Gojira is a French progressive death metal band from Bayonne, France. Their sound combines elements of thrash metal, death metal, progressive metal and sludge metal and as a result some sections of the press refer to them as the 'French Mastodon'.

Biography

Gojira was formed in 1996 in Bayonne, France by brothers Joe and Mario Duplantier, who played guitar and drums respectively. They were joined by guitarist Christian Andreu, who had seen the brothers perform live. Originally called Godzilla, they were forced to change their name due to legal disputes. They decided on the closest name to the original, which was Gojira (The original Japanese name of the popular science fiction creature.)

Musically, the band plays a mixture of several different types of music, including death metal, thrash metal and progressive metal, but there are also more atmospheric sections to many songs in a similar style to the American metal bands Mastodon and Neurosis. They also utilize a range of different vocal styles, from deep harsh vocals, to higher pitched screaming, and from coarse singing, to much cleaner vocals. They are often compared to bands like Meshuggah, Strapping Young Lad and Morbid Angel.

Lyrically, the band deals with subjects such as the environment and how people treat it. In particular, their album From Mars to Sirius has many songs which lyrically show a concern about human-induced climate change and how it could affect our planet.

The band released their second studio album, The Link, in the United States on April 10th, 2007 with remastered audio and new booklet artwork. Their live DVD, The Link Alive, was released in the United States on May 27th, 2007, and worldwide a day later. Currently, Gojira is working on an (as yet) untitled fourth studio album to be released in late 2008.The band's bassist Jean-Michel Labadie said that the fourth album would be more melodic than the others.

Influences

Gojira have been influenced by heavy metal artists such as Death, Morbid Angel, Meshuggah, Metallica, Tool, and Neurosis

Publicity and touring

They were featured on the cover of Terrorizer Magazine in December 2006.

Gojira was featured on Children of Bodom's US tour in late 2006, joining Amon Amarth and Sanctity as the openers.

Furthermore, Gojira supported Trivium on the UK dates of their European tour with Sanctity and Annihilator, and recently supported Lamb of God on their Spring 2007 American tour along with Trivium and Machine Head.

Gojira will be touring the US in late 2007 as part of the Radio Rebellion Tour, featuring co-headliners Behemoth and Job for a Cowboy, as well as Beneath the Massacre.

Band line-up

Current members

• Joe Duplantier − vocals, guitar
• Mario Duplantier − drums
• Christian Andreu − guitar
• Jean-Michel Labadie − bass guitar

Former members

• Alex − bass guitar (on early demos)

Discography

Early demos

• Victim (1996)
• Possessed (1998)
• Saturate (1999)
• Wisdom Comes (2000)

EPs

• Maciste All Inferno (2003) − EP

Studio albums

• Terra Incognita (2001) − CD
• The Link (2003) − CD
• From Mars to Sirius (2005) − CD
• Untitled 4th album (Late 2008) − CD

Live albums

• The Link Alive (2004) − CD/DVD

Singles

• "Indians" (2003)

Videography

• "Love" (2001)
• "The Link Alive" (2004)
• "To Sirius" (2005)

Cover songs

• "Escape" (Metallica)

External links

• Gojira official site
• Gojira fan site (Includes large photo gallery)
• French fan site
• American fan site
• Gojira official MySpace