Album Review: Gojira - L'Enfant Sauvage

Gojira
L'Enfant Sauvage
Rating: Woof Daddy

When asked about the meaning of the title of their 5th album, frontman, guitarist and songwriter Joe Duplantier said “When you become a musician, you don’t have a boss telling you what to do so you have to be very responsible.” Then notes that, “With freedom comes responsibility, so I’m asking myself, ‘What is freedom? What does it mean to me?’ L’Enfant Sauvage reflects on that. There’s no answer though. There’s just life and questions.” Through 11 blisteringly precise tracks, Duplantier and company touch on many themes of self-reliance vs. dependence and how ultimately we are all in control of our own lives and how we live it.

On the title track, Duplantier lets out through guttural howls how he's taken control of his path: "I've killed a part of me that was raging/The pain is gone/The denial/I've run away from institutions/I own myself, life." The guitars and jack hammer drums increasing in intensity and fury.



On "The Axe," another furious blitzkrieg of monster riffs and thunderous drums, wallowing in a mire of self-doubt and pity is no longer an option, "I lost my fears and the notion of time/I healed my sorrow/All boundaries are illusion."



On album highlight "Liquid Fire," sounding like the metal equivalent of a Killing Joke track, the guitars wail and plunder over a martial beat, Duplantier trading vocals a back and forth with the voices in his head, relying on nothing but himself and the natural world for his beliefs and direction: "This is how we talk to the world/Pure liquid fire running through our veins/We're in this alone, we bow to no one/Carved by the waves, our sacred temple."



The technical precision on display here is almost overwhelming in its intensity. The stop start time changes and roaring guitars and drums of "Planned Obsolescence" are a master class in metal.



"Mouth of Kala" and album opener "Explosia" both unleash furious torrents of air-raid siren guitars as backing for Duplantier's haunting vocals.



Thankfully, the album is not just one blur of overwhelming fury, there are a lot of subtle moments and textures. From the opening, delicate notes that flow in and out of "The Gift of Guilt," the hauntingly sad opening to "Pain Is A Master," to the almost mainstream sounding "Born In Winter," Gojira knows that you need to mix things up properly to get your message and point across.



L'Enfant Sauvage is a brilliant metal album that I highly recommend checking out if you are even remotely interested in the genre at all. Aside from the usual intense guitars, guttural howls, and machine like drumming, there is a focus here on melody, texture, and impact that raises it above mere technical proficiency to something bordering on the sublime.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.