It's been awhile, so I thought I'd do another post about a band that you might not have heard of yet.

Gojira is commonly referred to the French "Mastodon", with good cause.  The guitars are definitely more sludge-y, which is where the reference comes in, but other than that, there's more similarities to Meshuggah and more progressive-type metal than the former reference.  As far as defining them to a single genre, it can't be done.  They are part sludge, death, groove, and thrash.

The band was formed by two brothers, the guitarist and drummer respectively, and it took them awhile to get their sound really solid.  This latest album is a triumph on all levels. 

Wikipedia entry

Alot of their lyrics revolve around the Earth as an entity, and demostrate their relationship with nature.  Apparently they grew up along some coastline and were taught to respect the earth around them.  You can tell by the titles of their songs:

"Ocean Planet" – 5:32
"Backbone" – 4:18
"From the Sky" – 5:48
"Unicorn" – 2:09
"Where Dragons Dwell" – 6:54
"The Heaviest Matter of the Universe" – 3:57
"Flying Whales" – 7:44
"In the Wilderness" – 7:47
"World to Come" – 6:52
"From Mars" – 2:24
"To Sirius" – 5:37
"Global Warming" – 7:50

The real winner for me is "From the Sky" which starts out with pounding double-bass and a killer melody.  That's just the beginning though.  The real selling point is around 3:48 when things calm down and eventually build up to a groove that I could only describe as epic. 

If you like your albums to be 50+ minutes and cohesive the entire way through, this is the one for you.  If you're put off by rough vocals, at least give this one a shot.  There's alot to absorb the first time through, so don't get discouraged.  By my second or third listen, I was hooked.

Here's the album.  Of course, if you like it, please support the band:  II GOJIRA II.

A new album is in the works for this year.  Needless to say I'm very excited!

Yeah, FMtS is a nice album, and one can easily recommend it to even those who aren't fans of death metal vocals. The music is mostly very heavy, but never really brutal; instead it's almost beautiful at times, in a way.

Also, The Link has been on my wishlist for quite some time..

Oh, didn't know that. Cool.

Btw, if you haven't checked out The Ocean yet, you should. Asap. Their latest album is one of the best releases of 2007, and 2007 was a great year for metal.

Thanks for the upload, man. I already burned it to a disc and cranked it during my lunch break. There are lots of interesting things going on with the songs I heard - I'm a big fan of the riffage. Yeah, chug those 7th chords!

I'll up it tomorrow for ya (that is, if you don't already have it).

Man, I love all the new ideas and sounds that are coming out of the whole European area.  Would you see something like The Ocean Collective in the states?  Prolly not.  I'll check them out.  Thanks.  And yes, 2007 was indeed a good year for metal  (although this year is shaping up nicely as well:  new Sybreed, Textures, & Scar Symmetry, as well as the aforementioned Gojira).