GOJIRA — The Way of All Flesh (review)

GOJIRA — The Way of All Flesh album cover Album · 2008 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"The Way of All Flesh" is the 4th full-length studio album by French metal act Gojira. The album was released through Listenable Records/Prosthetic Records in October 2008. It´s the successor to "From Mars to Sirius" from 2005, which was the album, which gave Gojira their international (metal scene) breakthrough. "The Way of All Flesh" was predominantly recorded at the band´s own home studio Studio des Milans with lead vocalist/guitarist Joe Duplantier acting as producer. The drums were recorded at Undercity Recordings in Los Angeles and engineered by former Machine Head guitarist Logan Mader.

The musical direction hasn´t changed that much since "From Mars to Sirius (2005)". It´s still crushingly heavy, angular, and relatively complex and technically well played progressive metal featuring powerful, raw, and aggressive yet occasionally melodic tinged singing. The pace varies both within tracks and between tracks so the album features everything from slow to really fast-paced parts. The music is mostly mid-paced and heavy though. The tracks, while generally featuring relatively accessible vers/chorus structures, do often go beyond that format to explore more adventurous song formulas, which is part of the reason why this music can be labelled progressive.

The material are well written and the album is consistent in quality and style, which makes it hard to pick standout tracks. I´d mention tracks like the opener "Oroborus", the brutal "Adoration for None", the catchy "Esoteric Surgery", and the 9:54 minutes long "The Art of Dying" as some of the highlights, but I could have picked just about any track off the album as the quality is high throughout. The music is played with great technical skill and Gojira seamlessly combine elements from death metal, thrash/groove metal, and progressive metal to create a sound that is their own.

"The Way of All Flesh" features an intense, powerful, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly. If he hadn´t opted to become a musician, Duplantier could easily have landed the job as professional producer/engineer (he is a bit of a multi-artist, as he is also credited for creating the cover artwork for the album). So upon conclusion "The Way of All Flesh" is a great follow-up album to the much praised "From Mars to Sirius (2005)". It´s also a bit "safe" though, as it sounds a lot like "From Mars to Sirius (2005)" number 2, but there are differences, and it would be wrong to say that Gojira haven´t evolved in the three years between the two albums. "The Way of All Flesh" is sligthy more catchy and the tracks are generally a bit more memorable than the tracks featured on the predecessor, but it´s little details really. A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.
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