Year: 2021
Total Time: 51:57
Label: Roadrunner Records
Once upon a time there was a French band that took the sound of MORBID ANGEL, passed it through a filter that included NEUROSIS, CYNIC and MESHUGGAH among others, and created one of the best albums of the 00s. Of course, I’m talking about GOJIRA and their masterpiece “From Mars To Sirius”.
As is usually the case, every band that is successful seeks to broaden its sound in order to explore other musical paths or even more success. In the case of the French, this route meant the gradual move away from the Death Metal genre and the focus on a mixture of Groove Metal, Ambient atmosphere and Prog influences from bands such as PINK FLOYD and TOOL.
While with 2016’s “Magma” GOJIRA presented us with their most accessible work yet their darkest at the same time (emotionally influenced by the death of the Duplantier brother’s mother), “Fortitude” continues with a more “classic rock” character and a more positive lyrical theme.
From the first spins of the album, it is obvious that there’s a balance between the most aggressive and the most alternative/atmospheric moments. Listening carefully, you also notice the improved work on the vocals, the more multi-layered approach in the compositions and the impeccable playing of Jean-Michel Labadie on bass. A typical example is the opening track “Born For One Thing”, a polyrhythmic dynamite with a melodic ambient chorus and strong influences from PANTERA and SEPULTURA. The spirit of the Brazilian band hovers over the second track of the album, the groovy “Amazonia”, in which Gojira very cleverly implement the traditional Brazilian instrument berimbau, thus giving a tribal dimension just like the now classic “Roots”.
“Another World”, which follows, is a classic GOJIRA composition for plenty of headbanging. Rhythmic, with a very captivating melody on guitar and several melancholic vocals, it will surely find its way on the setlist. In “Hold On”, one of the best moments of the album, GOJIRA combines exceptionally all the elements that characterize them today: Volume, groove and technique with exceptional melodies on vocals and guitars. The song begins with Joe lamenting over a melody on the guitar, before turning into a big hypnotic break down where the band urges us not to give up despite all the difficulties of life.
“New Found” is another heavy piece, quite typical though, which is elevated from that massive break down just before its end. The two-minute “Fortitude” serves as an introduction to “The Chant”, one of the most special songs of the album. GOJIRA re-enters the stoner/psychedelic fields, as they did with “Shooting Start” five years ago, this time adding chanting backing vocals! Relaxed rhythms, Joe singing with incredible warmth and a killer rock’n’roll solo by Christian is enough to turn this piece into concert magic.
Another typical mid-tempo song is “The Sphinx”, which unfortunately offers no surprises. “Into the Storm”, with its uplifting lyrical message, is slowly evolving into a fan favourite. Mario’s drums pick up the pace for a while with his cymbal sounding like the bell at a train crossing, while in the main part of the song the band indulges in its familiar polyrhythmic groove.
Just before the end, “The Trails” lowers the tensions a little, taking us on a post/prog trip reminiscent of “Low Lands” from “Magma” – unfortunately without a similar build up. The album will reach its closure with the fierce “Grind”; Full metal attack in the first half of the song with the band giving it all and Joe in full Death metal mode on vocals. Christian Andreu’s guitar takes the lead in the second half and completes “Fortitude” with a beautiful ethereal melody.
Ok, that sounds great, but where does GOJIRA’s new work stand? So, the album continues from where “Magma” left off. The French quarter is moving further away from their Death Metal past. They focused on their song writing skills the compositions and are indeed more memorable. This comes at the expense of their structures though which sound very simplistic compared to a decade ago, where you didn’t know when the next earth-shattering riff / blastbeat would hit you. Although the album is more accessible than their previous works, no song is catchier than “Silvera” or “Stranded.” Moreover, moving away from Death Metal resulted in a significant decrease in the volume of their heavy parts that until a few years ago were a big part of their sound. Finally, the production of the album has not benefited the very good work that has been done on the vocals, which are buried in the mix behind the rest of the instruments.
“Fortitude” is a good proggy/groove metal album with the band finding the ideal balance between its heavy side and its more melodic/alternative aspirations. GOJIRA show that they can evolve musically without sacrificing their integrity. Having reached the top very early in their career though, it is very difficult to challenge the listener as they once did.
Rating: 7,5/10
Editor: Dimitris Benetatos
Related Link: GOJIRA – Official Page
