REVIEW: Gojira – L’enfant Sauvage

Artist: Gojira
Album: L’enfant Sauvage
Genre: Metal
Label: Roadrunner Records

When you’re in the throes of complete and utter fandom of a band and you get the news that you’re given the responsibility of reviewing their yet-to-be released album, what are your first thoughts? Mine were quite simple: I hope this album is as good as I want it to be. Having been a huge fan of Gojira since around the time they released From Mars To Sirius, I’ve gotten to know the band’s music quite well in the handful of years it’s been since discovering them. Each of their four albums prior to L’enfant Sauvage hold a special place in my heart, The Way Of All Flesh especially, being one of my favorite releases of 2008. Without a doubt, I was primed and ready for this one (if you don’t believe me, refer to my Google alert of “gojira preorder”). You’re certainly wondering ‘So, did the album live up to your extraordinary expectations?’ The short answer is yes, unequivocally yes. Four years well worth the wait.

Each of Gojira’s titanic efforts so far have each had their own flavor and feel, often revolving around a certain set of traits. As an example, The Way Of All Flesh‘s bread and butter was stark contrasting sections and long, drawn-out processionals (perhaps to go hand-in-hand with the idea of life and death, but that’s mere speculation). Terra Incognita is known for, somewhat predictably, it’s raw and brash approach to the band’s overwhelming technicality. Fast forward eleven years and you’ll find exactly these things encased in spectacular fashion on L’enfant Sauvage.

Four albums and over a decade of intense effort have brought us to the eve of Gojira’s crown jewel, their magnum opus. L’enfant Sauvage feels exactly as though it is what Gojira have been working toward in each of their prior releases, but always slightly missing the mark. Whether it was the slightly uncomfortable nature of Terra Incognita‘s songwriting, the “not quite there” feel of The Link, From Mars To Sirius‘ lack of variation, or The Way Of All Flesh‘s meandering prog nature—make no mistake, you’ll find none of those shortcomings here. Clocking in at about fifty-two minutes, Gojira have just enough time to explore a very solid amount of material in a way to avoid these ideas becoming completely disjunct or lost in a sea of progression. Above everything else L’enfant Sauvage offers, songwriting is the strongest aspect for the band on this effort, and coincidentally is the most improved as well.

The brothers Duplantier are as strong as ever, delivering performances from song to song that never cease to bewilder, Andreu and Labadie following suit. Chemistry is often overlooked in bands when thinking about a record but it’s hard to imagine the grooves and progressions on L’enfant Sauvage have such monolithic impact without it. As a group, they find ways to take seemingly simple and pedestrian musical ideas, package them together into something that always feels fresh and exciting. As a longtime listener, there are a litany of familiar elements amidst these songs: the straightforward chugging, the pick scrapes, the vocal processing, etc. None of these ideas feel played out, though logic would dictate that they should feel this way. One simple thing can explain a vast majority of these things: each member of Gojira possesses an uncanny ability to place accent notes amidst their parts to snatch attention at just the perfect time to keep the listener on their toes, but never in an obvious or obstructing manner.

Without a single doubt in my mind, L’enfant Sauvage is Gojira’s best album to date. If nothing else, certainly their most complete and well thought out album yet. Perfectly displaying their musical ideas, technical proficiency and remarkable feel, L’enfant Sauvage feels like listening to the equivalent of watching someone’s face as they figure out a problem that’s been plaguing them—the pure delight of having overcome an extreme personal hurdle. As of now, Gojira proudly sit atop my list of 2012 releases, and it’s hard to imagine anything dethroning them. Go buy this album. Right now.

Score: 10/10, review by Jordan Munson

(sidenote: I’m glad that this album is good because I’m not sure I would have had the heart to score it poorly—disaster averted!)

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One Response to “REVIEW: Gojira – L’enfant Sauvage”

  1. Jdkropff says:

    “…each member of Gojira possesses an uncanny ability to place accent notes
    amidst their parts to snatch attention at just the perfect time to keep
    the listener on their toes, but never in an obvious or obstructing
    manner.”

    –This is spot on and the best part of your review. These guys have taken it to a new level. With no intention to take away from Andreu and Labadie, I firmly believe the chemistry between the Duplantier brothers separates this band from the fray. The combination of clarity of vocals, so uncommon for the genre, and the immaculate precision heard in the drums glue it together. And that’s the band’s biggest weakness. Andreu and Labadie provide the remedy to that. This thing these guys are doing is working so well it’s unreal.