Take A Trip To Another World
- Reviewed by Tara Choudhary -
After a 4-year hiatus, French heavy metal band Gojira have made a fiery comeback amidst the chaos of this ongoing pandemic with their latest single, aptly titled ‘Another World’. Within just over a week of its release, this newest track has earned the group their first ever Billboard chart appearance and given metalheads the world-over a rush of euphoria and chronic headbanger's syndrome.
In true Gojira fashion this latest track doesn’t shy away from jumping straight into the deep end. Hitting you with a trademark instrumental kickoff within the first few seconds, 'Another World' combines a satisfyingly groovy riff with simple and clean drum work. When Joe Duplantier’s vocals come into the mix, they blend seamlessly with the instruments. His voice always brings an undeniable element of badassery to his songs, but this time with the vocals coming in just a notch less aggressive than what a Gojira track would normally go for.
The vocals could’ve also been a tad louder relative to the instruments for a fuller, more intense effect. For a group of Gojira's size, the mixing of 'Another World' is definitely questionable, with the track sounding at times thin and the vocals buried behind Gojira's instrumentation. That said however, the instant catharsis that Duplantier’s voice brings ensured I was still screaming along with reckless abandon after just one listen nonetheless.
The guitar work throughout the song was really enjoyable, effortlessly straddling a more hard-core death metal feel with a distinctly melodic vibe, crafting an excellently balanced sound. Gojira use a lot of interesting intervals that many bands don’t usually go for- but somehow they always seem to make them work, but beyond that, what stood out to me most amongst the instruments were the mind-blowing drums. The band didn’t do anything too outrageous with their percussion and kept it uncomplicated, but nonetheless demonstrated the scale of their technical prowess through the track's more delicate, underlying details.
‘Another World’ is packed with energy and sealed with a strong bass: Gojira just know how to get that groove going. The lyrics are simple, yet with an anthemic quality about them 'Another World' immediately stands out as one of Gojira’s more emotionally evocative singles. While the single is great by itself, hearing it whilst watching the music video is a wholly different experience. The sci-fi themed animated music video that accompanies the song was inspired by the 1968 film Planet of the Apes, and gives the listener a fitting storyline to guide them through the track. The bizarre visuals are a treat for the eyes and add a whole new dimension to the audio, transporting you well and truly into ‘Another World’.
The overall emotion of the song is infectious. It definitely felt very reminiscent of their last album Magma to me, (which we featured at #89 on our list of the Top 100 Albums of the 2010s last week) but I was missing a bit of Gojira's typically aggressive edge at some points. ‘Another World’ was explosive enough that if it were a can of soda it would be fizzing to the top, but I was just hoping it would tip over the brim with the punching aggression that I know Gojira has in them. Pre-pandemic, the band had big plans for 2020 with a major tour and a maybe even a new album, but alas. Life gives you lemons, but if 'Another World' is their way of making lemonade, I can't wait to see what this band squeezes out next.
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Tara Choudhary is a second-year student at King’s College London, who euphemises her indecisiveness by saying she studies the Liberal Arts. She enjoys music, theatre and basically anything she can categorise as “not math”.
Thanks for reading! Slow Motion Panic Masters is a music, arts and culture blog created and edited by Ben Wheadon, a literature student and musician based at the University of Oxford.
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