Review: Gojira - Les Enfants Sauvages (CD/DVD)

For a band with a planet-sized sound (that is probably as heavy as one, too), it’s only fair that they should have larger and larger venues to turn to dust. And it’s here, in Brixton’s cavernous Academy, that Gojira prove once again that they are one of the genre’s most exciting bands.

The term ‘heavy’ appears everywhere like a bored child with a label-making machine, but the French foursome manage to exceed the term with this slightly short set of tantalisingly tight rhythms, titanic guitars and Joseph Duplantier’s guttural vocals that still retain a sense of melody – and are intelligible as well as intelligent. Indeed, Gojira’s awareness of the world around them, articulated amongst the barrage of thunderous riffs and kick-drum beats, also helps them to stand out even more.

A tripping point for many bands can be whether their sound can translate well enough to the live setting – see Muse, but perhaps not System of a Down – but an excellent mix and a slick band sound bring as much of the studio as possible to the stage, while adding some more to it.

This cements them as a must-see live act (I dragged a friend to their Birmingham Barfly gig in 2009 – knowing nothing about them and not preferring heavy music, he came away impressed), and will hopefully be yet another facet ensuring their longevity.

And to top it off, the packaging for the CD/DVD combo is in a hauntingly beautiful hardback book. Filled with monochrome tour photography of the band on stage and on tour, this helps to cover for the slight disappointment of a lack of DVD extras. 

As if it weren't already obvious, Gojira have reminded us again via a wallop to the ears that they are ones to cherish.