Magma sees the French metal champs maturing like
camembert. In other words, they’ve turned soft. Softer but stronger.
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| Magma |
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| Terra Incognita |
The once-explosive drums have been lowered in the mix. And
there’s less growling and more singing this time around. Once arguably one of
the heaviest matter in the universe, Gojira have undeniably gotten soft.
But that isn’t to say they’ve pulled an Opeth – they haven’t
forgotten they’re a metal band yet, thank God (or should I say Satan). ‘Only
Pain’ for one certainly packs a punch, riding a groove that’ll leave your neck
more toned than Arnold Schwarzenegger. And ‘Pray’ is a slowbuilder that swiftly
erupts into some machine gun triplets. It’s enough to ward off the 1D fans. Although
it’s undoubtedly toned down compared to the likes of From Mars To Sirius and Terra
Incognita.
And this isn’t the only thing toned down - the showmanship
seems to also have been reined in. Sure, Gojira have never been the spandex-wearing
type to lay down flashy guitar solos, however they have dabbled in headscratching
time signatures and unpredictable song structures in the past as found all over
their sophomore album The Link (a
personal favourite record of mine). This sixth studio album by contrast feels
pretty straightforward – joints like ‘Stranded’ and ‘Silvera’ have clear verses
and choruses and little noodling. And some of the riffage is more minimal than
ever, sometimes too minimal, ‘Pray’ and ‘The Cell’ barely venturing beyond
one note.
Of course, that isn’t to say the band’s creative juices have
all dried up. Weaved into the mono-chugging are all manner of quirks to keep the listener perked including
the schizophrenic percussion work on ‘The Cell’ and the screeching harmonics of
title track ‘Magma’. There are even some curveball cuts such as stoner
instrumental ‘Yellow Stone’ and the closing jam ‘Liberation’, a lo-fi mix of
bongos and vaguely-balaeric guitars which drags on a little but otherwise ties
off the album nicely.
Lyrically, the band are also still as creative as ever, having
previously palmed off the usual blood-and-guts-death-metal-drivel for more
philosophical and environmental topics such as spiritualism and flying whales and plastic bags in
the sea. Influenced by the recent tragic passing of their mother, Magma sees the band’s two core members
Joe and Mario Duplantier taking on mortality. A lot of it is fairly gloomy, but
some of it manages to be surprisingly positive for a metal act, ‘The Cell’ ending with Joe asserting
‘we’ll find a way out right now!’,
rather than ‘there is no escape, we’re
fucked’.
All in all, it’s Gojira’s prettiest album so far – a lot
less brutal and in-your-face than previous efforts –proving much like Deftones’
recent record that metal doesn’t have to be ugly to function. And whilst
perhaps dangerously stripped-back, it also feels like one of their tightest and most cohesive records, every song maintaining its own identity without feeling out of place.
Maturity isn’t always boring. Magma
is hot stuff.
★★★★☆
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