Gojira @ O2 Academy, Birmingham (29th June 2019)
with Rolo Tomassi
With only three dates on their 'UK tour' over the summer, there was no way of seeing the French progressive death metallers Gojira without travelling down south. Adding in the potential for a trip to Alton Towers and a visit to the Black Sabbath exhibition (much recommended by the way), Birmingham became the choice of city for us to go to see one of the best live metal bands in the game. The addition of Black Peaks and Rolo Tomassi to the lineup made the decision to go all the easier for myself, as I like what both of those bands do musically.
With an half hour or so break before Gojira would come on, the crowd began to get more and more unbearably crowded and warm. Having managed to negotiate a spot just inside of the standing area that was about halfway back from the stage, this is where we would end up staying throughout the rest of the gig. Thankfully the band would come on just as I could feel elbows digging into my ribcage.
With a shimmering golden circle illuminated on the quite large screen behind them, Gojira came onstage to 'Oroborus' and almost immediately we were pushed back by the crowd who would form a mosh pit in the centre of the room (somehow). Thankfully it seemed like the volume had been dialed down slightly for Gojira as the guitars and drums were only about as loud and powerful as the venue's size demanded. And thank god, because it would have been a travesty if the intricacy of the fiddly lead lines and immense grooves would have been lost here.
This crushing heaviness of the first track was followed by the crushing 'Backbone' whose death metal riffing and bone-shattering riffs felt even more insane in the live environment. It was here that I was reminded just of Gojira's sheer technical proficiency in the live environment. Joe Duplantier on vocals and guitar alongside his brother Mario on drums provide one of the greatest double teams in metal, and this was more than evident here with the ferocious vocal delivery and intuitively monstrous drum patterns. Add in the immaculate work of guitarist Christian Andreu and bassist Jean-Michel Labadie and you have one of the most tight and huge sounding live units you will ever see.
This point was firmly emphasised when Magma's 'Stranded' kicked in, with a pounding 4/4 stomp that is reminiscent of Metallica and Pantera making the crowd go absolutely nuts. It's safe to say that the most recent work from Gojira has nailed down exactly what the band is best at, all the while adding a melodic sheen that makes such songs sound utterly huge in the live environment. The entire crowd singing along to that massive chorus was great to witness, and the band (from what I could see from my position at least) looked impressed by the volume of the audience. This was only marred slightly by the fact that the harmonised clean vocals around the last third of the song seemed to vanish a bit within the mix, like it had done with Rolo Tomassi's set. Thankfully this wasn't much of an issue at the moment due to the energy of the crowd.
Ramping things up once again then, the screen illuminated dark watery scenes which reflected in the lighting on the ceiling, giving the impression that you were underwater. Throw in the familiar ominous whale noises, a menancingly slow musical build-up and inflatable whales being thrown out to the crowd, and it was clear which song would be played next. As always, 'Flying Whales' was a particular highlight to the set, and the inclusion of the effects here really added to the already incredibly heavy atmosphere built by the song. Musically, this was simply unreal to witness as the mosh pit extended to much of the standing area of the venue. The slow, clean section near the end of the song built up the tension incredibly while the crowd clapped along in anticipation of that closing pick-scrape explicit heavy end to proceedings. What a song.
Next would see the inclusion of 'Love', the first of three songs played from Gojira's 2001 debut album 'Terra Incognita'. Regardless of whether such a focus on these songs was due to this year being the 10th anniversary of that album being re-recorded or the band just wanted to throw out some rarer material for these end of album cycle shows, it was really awesome to see their earlier tunes on display. Although the crowd seemed less familiar with this song, the more up-front death metal nature of the song meant that the enthusiasm didn't diminish in the slightest. This would only ramp up even more when 'The Cell' dropped immediately after. Being one of the most frantic and angry songs from Magma, the crowd screamed along to the frustrated and claustrophobic lyrics with perhaps the most gusto that would be seen throughout the entire gig.
'Terra Inc.' then relaxed things slightly with its most restrained but still technically impressive instrumentals before the band launched into the two absolutely huge tunes, 'Silvera' and L'Enfante Sauvage'. The special nature of Gojira to be able to add in such huge melodic lead guitar and vocal lines to such weird and insanely heavy off-kilter tunes was highlighted particularly well during these songs. Particular shout out to their drummer Mario, who contributes much of this time-signature bending groove to the band, as well as being one of the most engaging drummers you could ever watch. The blast beat section towards the end of the latter song was perhaps the best example of the sheer ability of the man, who appeared to barely break a sweat while hurtling the band and audience forward at what seemed like a million miles an hour.
Stripping things back a bit, it was then over to 'The Shooting Star' which saw the addition of an echo effect to the vocals in an attempt to give it the same disorientating effect it has on record. This felt like the only dip in an otherwise energetic set. As with the clean section of 'Stranded', the vocals seemed to disappear under the instruments, to the point where you could barely hear the multi-layered vocals at all. This all contributed to a feeling that there was nothing much to hold onto throughout the song, and as a result it did seem to float in the ether a bit until it ended. This was reflected by the response of the crowd that, for the first time during their set, seemed to become incredibly static. Thankfully, another Terra Inc. track, 'Blow Me Away You(Niverse)' followed this up, with its almost nu-metal sense of bounce livening things up again before the band would go offstage.
Cue a slightly extended break (apparently there was an issue with the drum kit that needed a few minutes to fix), then Mario would come back onstage to do his now conventional drum solo. I've mentioned before in other reviews that I'm not a fan of drum solos, and regardless of how amazing he is as a drummer, I still felt this way about this inclusion to the set. Encroaching on five minutes long, the solo felt too long for me personally and I would rather that the time was just used for the band to play another song. It's not like his skills aren't showcased in the songs themselves or anything... But, that's a personal thing, I guess. Thankfully, the rest of the band came back onstage before the rest of the audience's reaction started to match my own, pulling out another two older tracks, 'Clone' and 'Vacuity'. The former had a similar level of bounce to 'Blow Me Away' but matched it with a speed and intensity that got the crowd engaged in circle pits once again. The grooves were then firmly brought back into play with the latter track. Heads were banging and bodies were moving all around me.
The last song of this sweaty, mental gig saw an introduction from Joe that got the crowd particularly hyped up. Having said that the previous show they had played was at Glastonbury (cue boos from most people here) to a bunch of uninterested people who were 'all on mushrooms', he then explained that the band was much more in their ideal territory here (cue applause, as to be expected). Apparently, his voice had gotten a bit damaged from the dust at the festival as well, which meant that he would ask the crowd to help with the vocals for the final song here too (I can't say I noticed that his vocals were off at all during the set, so fair play to him on that front).
The crowd more than obliged when a slowed down version of the iconic tapped guitar intro of 'The Gift of Guilt' started. A fan-favourite, but one which is all too rarely played from the band for some reason (I've now seen Gojira six times but I think this is still the first time I've seen them play this song). Having been the first song I heard from the band, and one which holds a special place in my heart, I was over the moon for them to finally play it and the rest of the crowd seemed to go equally as nuts for it. What a way to close off a set that was already full of so many amazing moments.
It was these moments alongside those I've forgotten to mention (confetti blasting out during on the latter songs and smoke filling up the entire room for one of the more moody songs to the point where you couldn't see anything, just for it to all clear when the faster sections would kick in and the Tool-esque trippy screens that were both stunning to watch and that contributed a lot to the overall vibe of the performance) that signal Gojira being more than capable of delivering a show that could fill venues ten times the size. As the band thanked the audience in typically polite fashion, I got the feeling that when Gojira return (heavily hinted to be at some point next year when the new album is finished), it will be to play larger venues than these, and from the show and scale of songs I witnessed here, they will more than able to deliver an amazing show with the pizazz to match. Regardless of the slight irritation I had with the sound during some sections of their set, I'm still convinced that their performance here is still more musically tight and intense than most bands you will see in the live environment.
If you are into metal in the slightest, you need to do yourself a favour and check this band out when they're next near you. Just be prepared to drop your jaw from the ground after seeing them. I simply can't wait to see this band again, hopefully in the Barrowlands in Glasgow where they deserve to be at this point in their career, with a hopefully slightly less crowded experience overall.
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WORDS: Joanne Gray
With only three dates on their 'UK tour' over the summer, there was no way of seeing the French progressive death metallers Gojira without travelling down south. Adding in the potential for a trip to Alton Towers and a visit to the Black Sabbath exhibition (much recommended by the way), Birmingham became the choice of city for us to go to see one of the best live metal bands in the game. The addition of Black Peaks and Rolo Tomassi to the lineup made the decision to go all the easier for myself, as I like what both of those bands do musically.
Getting to the day of the gig however, it became clear only a few hours beforehand that Black Peaks would be pulling out of their support slots, due to their singer Will Gardener recovering from sepsis. A real shame for the audience, but especially for the band who are very much influenced by the headline band. Health takes priority though, and I very much hope that Will gets well soon! As the cancellation was so late here, there wasn't time to add another opening band, so it was over to Rolo Tomassi to open things off at the perhaps slightly earlier time of 8 o'clock.
After navigating the city centre in the record threatening 30 degree heat (ugh), we got to the venue 5 or 10 minutes after the band first came on. It became clear very quickly that this was going to be a crowded show, and a really sweaty one as well. As I'd not been to this venue before attending this gig, I wasn't sure whether this level of crowdedness was normal for a show that was nearly sold out but I would wager that the slightly odd layout of the room (a square shape with the balcony overhanging three sides and a bunch of bars and a merch table located round the standing area downstairs) has something to do with it. People were trying not to get stuck along the outside edges where you could barely see anything past the pillars holding up the balcony. This all felt very different from the theatre like O2 in Glasgow, and this more closed-in design would take a bit of getting used to throughout the gig.
Another noticeable feature of this venue would also prove to be its... interesting... sound.
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Centring their set largely around 2018's Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It, Sheffield's math-rock pioneers Rolo Tomassi began their set with the all-encompassingly frantic 'Rituals'. After a few minutes of watching the band tear through the Dillenger Escape Plan-esque song that bounced between different time signatures, it became clear that the sheer volume of this performance sounded too loud. The dialing up of the guitars and drums in particular here meant that everything felt like a wall of ear-hurting sound and much of the nuance of the technical riffing was lost. In harder songs like this, vocalist Eva Spence's piercing screams could just about cut through the instruments in an impressive manner, but this only added to the overwhelming volume of the set rather than balancing it out.
This became even more noticeable throughout the set when songs with a level of ambience were brought to the table. The heavier opening sections of songs like 'Funereal', 'Whispers Among Us', 'Alma Mater' would absolutely pummel your eardrums before dropping off to gentle keyboard driven sections. The volume of the guitars would still remain the same while Spence sang in her conventionally ethereal soft manner, meaning that you could barely hear her over the swirling, multi-layered instrumental parts. A real shame here, as that shift between loud and quiet would've been so effective had the sound been better. Thankfully the crowd around me seemed to appreciate the effort and skill of the band regardless, and were receptive to the gentler moments without the vocals being overly prominent.
Perhaps the songs which worked best for Rolo Tomassi here then were those which started off in a gentler fashion and then built up to a heavier mid-section, such as the eerie sounding 'Balancing the Dark', and the atmospheric tunes 'The Hollow Hour' and 'Contretemps'. All of these songs felt more spacious and left more room for Spence's wonderful vocals to shine through a bit more. It was during these moments as well that her stage presence was made more prominent as she swayed and delicately danced to the post-rock jazzy nature of the songs. She would then alternate to those harsh vocals, which would be able to cut above the slightly softer instrumental parts and showcase her immense talents more effectively.
Regardless of the sound issues here, the band had thankfully managed to keep the room on their side though, and throughout the set I could see more people moving around and being generally appreciative of the intricacy of Rolo Tomassi's sound. This was encapsulated best with the last song they played. Arguably their biggest song from their newest album, the 8 minute epic 'A Flood Of Light' flipped between down-tuned heaviness to gorgeous multi-layered clean sections that would hold the biggest melodic vocal hooks of their set. The huge nature of these sections would build throughout the song, and by the end, Rolo Tomassi had most of the crowd on their side and cheering away enthusiastically.
When the band then thanked the audience and went offstage, I got the sense that they had given everything to their performance here. After talking to the people I had went to the gig with after their set, it became obvious that the sound issue wasn't just because I had foolishly left my ear plugs back at the hotel; it was the sound itself that didn't show them off in the best possible light. All that said though, I think the band were still a great opening band for what was to follow. Very much a band I would recommend to those who like off-kilter, mathy post-rock and would encourage people to see them at their own shows. I'd be tempted to do the same if they're back up in Glasgow in the near future.
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With an half hour or so break before Gojira would come on, the crowd began to get more and more unbearably crowded and warm. Having managed to negotiate a spot just inside of the standing area that was about halfway back from the stage, this is where we would end up staying throughout the rest of the gig. Thankfully the band would come on just as I could feel elbows digging into my ribcage.
With a shimmering golden circle illuminated on the quite large screen behind them, Gojira came onstage to 'Oroborus' and almost immediately we were pushed back by the crowd who would form a mosh pit in the centre of the room (somehow). Thankfully it seemed like the volume had been dialed down slightly for Gojira as the guitars and drums were only about as loud and powerful as the venue's size demanded. And thank god, because it would have been a travesty if the intricacy of the fiddly lead lines and immense grooves would have been lost here.
This crushing heaviness of the first track was followed by the crushing 'Backbone' whose death metal riffing and bone-shattering riffs felt even more insane in the live environment. It was here that I was reminded just of Gojira's sheer technical proficiency in the live environment. Joe Duplantier on vocals and guitar alongside his brother Mario on drums provide one of the greatest double teams in metal, and this was more than evident here with the ferocious vocal delivery and intuitively monstrous drum patterns. Add in the immaculate work of guitarist Christian Andreu and bassist Jean-Michel Labadie and you have one of the most tight and huge sounding live units you will ever see.
This point was firmly emphasised when Magma's 'Stranded' kicked in, with a pounding 4/4 stomp that is reminiscent of Metallica and Pantera making the crowd go absolutely nuts. It's safe to say that the most recent work from Gojira has nailed down exactly what the band is best at, all the while adding a melodic sheen that makes such songs sound utterly huge in the live environment. The entire crowd singing along to that massive chorus was great to witness, and the band (from what I could see from my position at least) looked impressed by the volume of the audience. This was only marred slightly by the fact that the harmonised clean vocals around the last third of the song seemed to vanish a bit within the mix, like it had done with Rolo Tomassi's set. Thankfully this wasn't much of an issue at the moment due to the energy of the crowd.
Ramping things up once again then, the screen illuminated dark watery scenes which reflected in the lighting on the ceiling, giving the impression that you were underwater. Throw in the familiar ominous whale noises, a menancingly slow musical build-up and inflatable whales being thrown out to the crowd, and it was clear which song would be played next. As always, 'Flying Whales' was a particular highlight to the set, and the inclusion of the effects here really added to the already incredibly heavy atmosphere built by the song. Musically, this was simply unreal to witness as the mosh pit extended to much of the standing area of the venue. The slow, clean section near the end of the song built up the tension incredibly while the crowd clapped along in anticipation of that closing pick-scrape explicit heavy end to proceedings. What a song.
Next would see the inclusion of 'Love', the first of three songs played from Gojira's 2001 debut album 'Terra Incognita'. Regardless of whether such a focus on these songs was due to this year being the 10th anniversary of that album being re-recorded or the band just wanted to throw out some rarer material for these end of album cycle shows, it was really awesome to see their earlier tunes on display. Although the crowd seemed less familiar with this song, the more up-front death metal nature of the song meant that the enthusiasm didn't diminish in the slightest. This would only ramp up even more when 'The Cell' dropped immediately after. Being one of the most frantic and angry songs from Magma, the crowd screamed along to the frustrated and claustrophobic lyrics with perhaps the most gusto that would be seen throughout the entire gig.
'Terra Inc.' then relaxed things slightly with its most restrained but still technically impressive instrumentals before the band launched into the two absolutely huge tunes, 'Silvera' and L'Enfante Sauvage'. The special nature of Gojira to be able to add in such huge melodic lead guitar and vocal lines to such weird and insanely heavy off-kilter tunes was highlighted particularly well during these songs. Particular shout out to their drummer Mario, who contributes much of this time-signature bending groove to the band, as well as being one of the most engaging drummers you could ever watch. The blast beat section towards the end of the latter song was perhaps the best example of the sheer ability of the man, who appeared to barely break a sweat while hurtling the band and audience forward at what seemed like a million miles an hour.
Stripping things back a bit, it was then over to 'The Shooting Star' which saw the addition of an echo effect to the vocals in an attempt to give it the same disorientating effect it has on record. This felt like the only dip in an otherwise energetic set. As with the clean section of 'Stranded', the vocals seemed to disappear under the instruments, to the point where you could barely hear the multi-layered vocals at all. This all contributed to a feeling that there was nothing much to hold onto throughout the song, and as a result it did seem to float in the ether a bit until it ended. This was reflected by the response of the crowd that, for the first time during their set, seemed to become incredibly static. Thankfully, another Terra Inc. track, 'Blow Me Away You(Niverse)' followed this up, with its almost nu-metal sense of bounce livening things up again before the band would go offstage.
Cue a slightly extended break (apparently there was an issue with the drum kit that needed a few minutes to fix), then Mario would come back onstage to do his now conventional drum solo. I've mentioned before in other reviews that I'm not a fan of drum solos, and regardless of how amazing he is as a drummer, I still felt this way about this inclusion to the set. Encroaching on five minutes long, the solo felt too long for me personally and I would rather that the time was just used for the band to play another song. It's not like his skills aren't showcased in the songs themselves or anything... But, that's a personal thing, I guess. Thankfully, the rest of the band came back onstage before the rest of the audience's reaction started to match my own, pulling out another two older tracks, 'Clone' and 'Vacuity'. The former had a similar level of bounce to 'Blow Me Away' but matched it with a speed and intensity that got the crowd engaged in circle pits once again. The grooves were then firmly brought back into play with the latter track. Heads were banging and bodies were moving all around me.
The last song of this sweaty, mental gig saw an introduction from Joe that got the crowd particularly hyped up. Having said that the previous show they had played was at Glastonbury (cue boos from most people here) to a bunch of uninterested people who were 'all on mushrooms', he then explained that the band was much more in their ideal territory here (cue applause, as to be expected). Apparently, his voice had gotten a bit damaged from the dust at the festival as well, which meant that he would ask the crowd to help with the vocals for the final song here too (I can't say I noticed that his vocals were off at all during the set, so fair play to him on that front).
The crowd more than obliged when a slowed down version of the iconic tapped guitar intro of 'The Gift of Guilt' started. A fan-favourite, but one which is all too rarely played from the band for some reason (I've now seen Gojira six times but I think this is still the first time I've seen them play this song). Having been the first song I heard from the band, and one which holds a special place in my heart, I was over the moon for them to finally play it and the rest of the crowd seemed to go equally as nuts for it. What a way to close off a set that was already full of so many amazing moments.
It was these moments alongside those I've forgotten to mention (confetti blasting out during on the latter songs and smoke filling up the entire room for one of the more moody songs to the point where you couldn't see anything, just for it to all clear when the faster sections would kick in and the Tool-esque trippy screens that were both stunning to watch and that contributed a lot to the overall vibe of the performance) that signal Gojira being more than capable of delivering a show that could fill venues ten times the size. As the band thanked the audience in typically polite fashion, I got the feeling that when Gojira return (heavily hinted to be at some point next year when the new album is finished), it will be to play larger venues than these, and from the show and scale of songs I witnessed here, they will more than able to deliver an amazing show with the pizazz to match. Regardless of the slight irritation I had with the sound during some sections of their set, I'm still convinced that their performance here is still more musically tight and intense than most bands you will see in the live environment.
If you are into metal in the slightest, you need to do yourself a favour and check this band out when they're next near you. Just be prepared to drop your jaw from the ground after seeing them. I simply can't wait to see this band again, hopefully in the Barrowlands in Glasgow where they deserve to be at this point in their career, with a hopefully slightly less crowded experience overall.
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