Artist: Gojira
Title: Fortitude
Genre: Thrash Metal / Technical Death Metal
Release Date: 30th April 2021
Label: Roadrunner Records
Album Review
It has been five years since GOJIRA released ‘Magma’. This catapulted the French to where they belong, one of the aspiring as well as honest headliners. Now ‘Magma’ is getting a successor, which will be released in April and distributed by Roadrunner Records. ‘Fortitude’ is the name of the record, and with ‘Born for One Thing’, ‘Amazonia’, ‘The Chant’, ‘Another World’ and ‘Into the Storm’ it already gave us a foretaste of what the French have prepared for the listener.
‘Born for One Thing’ and ‘Amazonia’ open the seventh opus. Both impress with their properly rattling melodies, aggressive vocals and powerful riffs. The melodic chorus of the opener song remains well in the head and brings the listener into the progressive and beloved GOJIRA world. The next song ‘Another World’ was also published before the release and seems a bit monotonous, but could work very well live. ‘Hold On’ starts with multi-voiced effects in the vocals and then really shreds your ears. This is GOJIRA as we know and love them. ‘New Found’ comes along with a lot of energy, sometimes reminding a bit of METALLICA, which is not necessarily bad, because the song still encourages to headbang.
The exact centrepiece is the name-giving ‘Fortitude’, a multiple-voiced chant that promptly leads smoothly into ‘The Chant’. This is perhaps not as aggressive as we are used to from the French. It has melodic guitars, which definitely have earworm character, and as the title of the song already mentions, catchy chants. Afterwards, the band around Joe Duplantier brutally summon the ‘Sphinx’, which unfortunately - as I had expected - doesn’t have an oriental touch, but has deep growls and aggressive hammering riffs. The dark, threatening atmosphere of this song is similar to that of the previous work ‘Magma’.
‘Into the Storm’ (which some listeners will already be familiar with) breaks out with a fast rhythm and shows that GOJIRA have by no means lost the ground under their feet. Fans of skilful riffs get their money’s worth here. ‘The Trails’ is more relaxed, which is a somewhat unusual piece for the French, but very interesting. The soft and melodic vocals as well as the melancholic and atmospheric mood reminds of the beginnings of AMORPHIS. Those who know GOJIRA know that this cannot end peacefully. With the closer ‘Grind’, they really step on the gas again. Aggressive vocals, heavy melodies and powerful riffs. This one is a brute banger for fans of the first hour and thus skilfully builds a bridge to the opener ‘Born For One Thing’.
Since ‘Magma’, GOJIRA no longer have to hide from anyone and ‘Fortitude’ proves this once again. They belong to the best musicians of their genre and know exactly how to impress the public. The band’s typical riffs, which are sometimes accompanied by spherical moments and varied vocals, will certainly please new and old fans. ‘Fortitude’ is a well-produced album full of progressive elements, which puts the band’s skills in the foreground.
Tracklist
01. Born For One Thing
02. Amazonia
03. Another World
04. Hold On
05. New Found
06. Fortitude
07. The Chant
08. Spinx
09. Into The Storm
10. The Trails
11. Grind
Line-up
Joe Duplantier – Vocals, Guitar
Christian Andreu – Guitar
Jean-Michel Labadie – Bass
Mario Duplantier – Drums
Website
https://www.gojira-music.com
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10
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