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Metal more green
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When heavy metal is truly great, the music is often backed up with lofty lyrical fodder. Now that metal’s staple fascination with Beelzebub, mortality and gore has been almost completely exhausted, we’re starting to see a lot of metal bands move in new directions, taking on pre-Christian societies, science fiction and other fantasy-related lyrics. France’s Gojira are certainly part of this new breed, but they manage to remain grounded, staying away from the fantastic and dealing almost exclusively with environmental concerns. “I don’t think we really chose to sing about the environment, it really chose us,” says guitarist/singer Joe Duplantier. “There are all kinds of subjects that suit this kind of music and I think most lyrics associated with metal are just as important [as the music]. The metal community has a role in society because they point a finger at a lot of taboo subjects, like suffering or a fear of death. There is a lot of pain in life from the moment we are born and start crying, and I think it’s healthy for society when people are exposed to subjects that they aren’t comfortable talking about. Fantasy-based lyrics or lyrics about invented worlds are just as important, because imagination and dreaming is important to the world. We all have something to bring.” The modest Duplantier may talk the talk when it comes to being an environmentalist on paper, but he’s also an activist, as a longtime member of Greenpeace. Although Duplantier insists there is room for all in the metal community, he instinctively realizes Gojira’s place in it. “I don’ t think our lyrics are much more important than anybody else’s, but I think everybody has a personal responsibility when you have a chance to communicate to people, to talk about things like how you can help the earth. I’ve just been lucky that I am able to let people know, through lyrics and meeting people at shows, that they can do little things like, instead of driving a car, they can ride a bike or even use less water, and to help people make concentrated efforts to save energy. It can become a very personally powerful thing when you do these things.” Although Gojira is often singled out for their lyrics, they can hardly be brushed off as lily-livered, bleeding-heart tree-huggers. If their pearls about the earth are putting them in the spotlight a bit, the band easily backs them up with sonic ballast. Their new release, The Way of All Flesh, combines elements of death metal and hardcore, and more prominently, a devastating execution that shows them on the upper reaches of tech metal. Gojira have become a regular name-check for everybody from Metallica to outspoken fans Lamb of God, whose vocalist Randy Blythe guested on the new record. They have such a unique sound amid the cookie-cutter world of metal, though the modest Duplantier is hardly one to toot his own horn. “I don’t know if we’re all that different from other metal bands, in the sense that we try and be unique and inventive and let the music progress by itself. There is always fresh blood happening in metal that keeps it really interesting and innovative, and we are just another band keeping that tradition alive.” WITH IN FLAMES, ALL THAT REMAINS |
