Band:	Gojira
Album:	Fortitude
Style:	Alternative metal
Release date:	April 30, 2021
Guest review by:	Mehrad

01. Born For One Thing
02. Amazonia
03. Another World
04. Hold On!
05. New Found
06. Fortitude
07. The Chant
08. Sphinx
09. Into The Storm
10. The Trails
11. Grind

The new Gojira album is not Magma 2, and it's not completely a "U Turn" from it. It has the perfect combination of both "old" and "new" Gojira.

Bands can't stick to one formula and don't change at all; it might work for some bands, but it often becomes boring and stale. In Gojira's case, they did something different every album; although all of them have that "Gojira touch", they are all distinct from each other. With their 7th, Fortitude , they found a good balance of "old and heavy" style, "new and mellower" approach and those weird and unique things that they always do in an album. In my opinion this is the perfect path; it's not doing a full Magma clone and it's not doing a full From Mars To Sirius or The Way Of All Flesh rip-off, it's having all their elements and experimenting while being true to themselves.

Songs like "Fortitude/The Chant" (a really unique song for them, with spacey stoner rock vibes and a kick-ass bluesy guitar solo) and "The Trails" are in the mellower vein, whereas songs like "New Found", "Sphinx", "Grind" (one of the most aggressive songs they've made in a long time) and "Born For One Thing" are new takes on their old and heavy sound, and songs like "Amazonia" (strong tribal vibes and the ultimate "tribute to Sepultura", as Joe puts it) and "Hold On" see them trying newer stuff in their sound.

Of course, as much of a fanboy I am, there are some obvious flaws I have to point out. The lyricism in this album is probably their weakest and not on par with previous spiritual lyrics than we all know that Joe can pull off well; they are way simpler here and all of them kinda go to that theme of "empowering" music, which can come out as cheesy, with lines like "put your fist in the air". Also, this album has simpler drumming compared to Mario's previous performances (of course not all of the songs; "Grind", "Born For One Thing" and "Into The Storm" have some really complex and unique drumming). Another major flaw is the mixing: Joe's vocals are way buried in the mix and some riffs are really hard to hear (like the main riff of "Hold On"); on the other hand, this album probably has the meatiest BASS tone of their albums.

Overall this album is way simpler than their older material, which makes for a really great gateway album for non-metalheads; some of my friends who aren't metalheads/are metalheads but didn't previously like them, liked the songs they heard off of it like "Amazonia" and "The Trails". However, to people who have been fans for a long time, I can see why they consider it mediocre and bland and uninteresting (for example, most of "Fortitude/The Chant" is centered around that chanting vocal melody), but if someone expected Gojira to do a Terra Incognita Part 2, it's their problem. If I wanted to headbang so hard that my neck hurts for a week, I would listen to something like "Clone" from Terra Incognita, not something off of Fortitude or Magma; although they have their heavy parts, it just doesn't match the badassery and "heavy as fuck"-ness of their first couple of albums. However, with Magma and now Fortitude, there are more songs that are mellower and dreamier, which I also like. I'm definitely eager to hear what they would do next.

This album is a good introduction to metal for non-metalheads; it's easy to listen to, melodic, features some real growls and some beautiful clean singing (this is Joe's best clean vocal performance in their discography), some heavy parts and it's unique with cool riffs. However, it's not perfect and flawless enough to become an all-time classic.

Recommended songs: "Grind", "Amazonia", "The Trails"