Gojira

Fortitude

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Genre: Progressive Death Metal.
Released: 30/04/2021
Via Roadrunner Records

Album Review: Gojira – Fortitude

Gojira is one of the hottest commodities in metal right now so it’s understandable that fans have been extremely vocal about their excitement about the band’s new album ‘Fortitude’. The first single the band released off the new album titled ‘Another World’ has already amassed over 9.5 million streams! It’s safe to say that the hype is real around this new album so without any further delay, here are my thoughts on Gojira’s ‘Fortitude’.

Right of the bat, you are welcomed with the iconic Gojira sound with a bombardment of palm-muted guitars and percussion. Without delay, Joe Duplantier’s vocals kick the song off into full gear. The bands sound hasn’t changed and that makes for a somewhat memorable listening experience. ‘Amazonia’ features some unique sounding phrases that you’ve come to expect from Gojira. Mario Duplantier’s drumming completely blows this song out of the water. The no-nonsense type of beat just gives the song the edge it needed to separate it from being a good song and making it into a great one! A really strong start to the new album!

Now it’s time for the mighty ‘Another World’! It’s clear to see why this track has instantly become so popular in the metal community. From its infectious chord progression laid down by Joe and Christian Andreu to the tracks anthemic nature, The song is one of those rare pieces of music where everything works in unison perfectly. If you have somehow not heard this track already you have to check it out!

Up next is ‘Hold On’. A more melodic number adds a needed bit of contrast to the album. The layered vocals throughout the song make for a unique listening experience and I believe this is a great example of what Gojira as a whole has become over the past few years. Unafraid to take risks and 9 times out of 10 they seem to nail it! Following that is ‘New Found’ and the scratch of the strings opening the song instantly made me excited. A heavy number that will have you banging your head until the song’s completion! An impressive feat for a song that’s just shy of 7 minutes long!

Title track ‘fortitude’ really changes up the flow of the record. A more tribe like percussion section and a bouncy Bassline from Jean-Michel Labadie holds the song together while the rest of the band ad layer after layer of melody. A unique track that almost serves as a prolonged intro for ‘The Chant’. The song is still a very different vibe from the rest of the album and I have to say I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I did the previous tracks. The song itself is decent however I just found it a bit too far of a change for my liking. 

On the other hand, ‘Sphinx’ is exactly what I was looking for when going into this album. A bombardment of heavy riffs and gutturals complete what is more than likely my favourite track of the entire album. Joe Duplantier’s low screams are just out of this world and their inclusion on this track make it stand out from the crowd. What a track! ‘Into The Storm’ is one for all you circle pit lovers! A track full of high-intensity drumming and rapid tremolos gets me excited for the prospect of seeing this live in the future! I cannot wait. 

The penultimate track ‘The Trails’ is a more mellow number that showcases the bands prog nature perfectly. A technical track that will have music theory addicts listening to it over and over again. Once again, Joe’s vocals steal the show however this time it’s his clean singing that stood out to me! So how do u follow that… With an all-out assault know as ‘Grind’ of course! This song is heavy as hell and features some of the best progression on the album. I was instantly hooked on Mario’s drumming throughout this one. It manages to bring the song to life and it’s just a beautiful thing to hear.

Gojira has struck gold once again with ‘Fortitude’. The band’s momentum has been unstoppable recently and this album may just be the thing they needed to skyrocket themselves into headliner position when festivals come back around. Gojira continues to amaze me and if you haven’t checked them out yet I’d highly recommend this album being your first taste of the French Progressive Death Metallers!