Gojira - The Way of All Flesh (2008)
©Listenable Records
France
Tracklist:
- Oroborus (5:21)
- Toxic Garbage Island (4:06)
- A Site to Behold (5:09)
- Yama's Messengers (4:04)
- The Silver Chord (2:32)
- All the Tears (3:41)
- Adoration for None (6:19)
- The Art of Dying (9:53)
- Esoteric Surgery (5:44)
- Vacuity (4:51)
- Wolf Down the Earth (6:25)
- The Way of All Flesh (17:02)
So once again I get the enlightening opportunity to saturate my musical palate with Gojira. A band that over a year ago blew the top of my head off with their extremely fresh, crushing sound. I was an instant fan. I still am! But what do I think of this album? I’m not too wild about it.
Over the past year I was regularly checking for new updates from the band. One late summer night my wish had come true. ‘Vacuity’ was released on their Myspace page and as quickly as the energetic surge came over me to clicke ‘play’, so too did it drain away. What happened? I thought. Was this some kind of a joke? Is there something wrong with me? I had only hoped that my mind would change upon the day of this album's release.
A few weeks later I found out a buddy of mine, who is pretty much a die hard ‘specific band only’ type of dude (Lamb of God), was heavily getting into Gojira and even more heavily anticipating the new release. Now this is a guy who you couldn’t pay to listen to another band, until he found out ‘Lamb of God’s’ Randy Blythe was to appear as a guest vocalist on the album. In fact, there are so many people out there that I try to introduce bands to who brush it off only to jump on the band-wagon later on in the game, post satellite radio play and whatnot. It really pisses me off to no end. Could this actually be happening?
So the album… What’s wrong with it? I’m not too sure. Mario Duplantier’s drumming is better and more technical than ever. That distinctive ‘Gojira’ grit with angry vocals and spectacular guitar string scraping is all there. The riffs are tight and brutal. The breaks - dominant. The song writing is exceptional, including its usual ‘PRO EARTH’ theme fueling Joe Duplantier’s one of a kind vocals. The performance and production - FLAWLESS. Gojira have clearly grown and continued on their progressive path. There is really not much to complain about if you look at ‘The Way of All Flesh’ as a stand-alone album. Compared to their previous releases, the absence of a particular unknown quality hinders this reviewer’s ability to completely enjoy it - I know, it's not fair to compare.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not one of those assholes who is immediately ‘anti <insert band name here>’ when they become better know. It’s just that the recipe for this album doesn’t seem to settle well with me. In fact, I pretty much stand alone amongst my peers on this one. I can only hope that I will be eating the words of this review several months from now. For now, I’m going go to the cupboard and fix me up a heaping bowl full of ‘The Link’, Terra Incognita and 'From Mars To Sirius'.
Recommended, still.
On the ‘Tuff Scale’, from 1 to 5, ‘The Way of All Flesh’ gets a 4---TUFFF!
-Joel
*The ‘Tuff Scale’ is not a rating. It is used as a simple grade of aggression presented by the music reviewed.
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