Release Date: Apr 30, 2021
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Death Metal
Record label: Roadrunner
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All too often, extreme metal acts are ceilinged at a moderate level of success. It isn't surprising to see a band like Gojira -- 25 years and seven albums in -- plateau in popularity and spend the rest of their career playing the same venues and pulling the same figures. But if anyone has a shot at breaking this mould, it's Gojira, and Fortitude could be the album that does the trick. The songs all play into and build on each other well, fitting together despite the wide array of stylistic elements heard across them.
The spirit of perseverance " The health of ecosystems on which we and all other species depend is deteriorating more rapidly than ever. We are eroding the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide. " * There are few bands in recent decades that have flown the flag for environmental awareness as the French Gojira.
An odd look will spread over the features of any heavy music fan the moment you mention the name Gojira. Their eyes will glaze over as they enter a trancelike state, foaming at the mouth and shaking as they mutter about how they saw them blow Slayer off the stage in '13, or fold Ghost like laundry back on the 'Infestissumam' tour, or bludgeon Mastodon to death at Bloodstock 2016. There is a unanimous agreement across the brutalisphere that France's premier metal band effectively ran the table on the 2010s, leapfrogging their rivals to become the most exciting, influential and groundbreaking act in heavy metal.
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