9 Levels of Gojira Riffs - Easy to Hard

9 Levels of Gojira Riffs from easy to hard, plus a bonus one that's impossible to play unless you can reverse time!
Just a quick video to get back into the swing of playing after barely picking up my guitar for the past couple of months. Thanks for being patient while my wrists being healing up. It's still a bit off but definitely on the mend!
I'll be aiming to get a video up a week again with a few more talking videos in between to mix it up.
What are your 9 levels of Gojira riffs?
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[@AndriyVasylenko]

I’m just starting to get into real riffing on guitar. But what really baffles me is the “controlled noises” that Gojjira does. Like in the Love breakdown. That seems simple and otherwise would be considered sloppy, random, sound artifact or something. But repeating those noises precisely is damm hard, and the riffs lose their charm without that. I hope you even understand what kind of noises Im talking about, it’s really hard to find the correct terms here ))

[@jamesdinkage2907]

Hi, Andriy. Would love to see you analysing Gojira on your channel in the future as you move on from mostly Metallica content. You're a legend.

[@AndriyVasylenko]

@@jamesdinkage2907 I appreciate it!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

I know exactly what you mean! The end of Love is especially interesting as it's more than just the normal pick scrape they do in other songs. Took a while to figure out quite what they were doing when I was covering it.

[@thalamusDecimation]

Andriy doing Gojira videos would be so awesome. I used to watch your content when i was big into Metallica, but ever since i discovered Gojira, i can't listen to them anymore.

[@StrangerE0ns]

My hero is doing Gojira now, all is better

[@sundor5401]

ah yes, the faces

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Had to be done

[@voronOsphere]

Yes! The faces actually do help with the attitude of the performance! It's True!

[@atthecore4560]

Guitarists have the best faces, especially when they fuck up XD

[@sXeSnowmansXe]

No guitar face = bad tone Guitar face = good tone

[@eltiji24]

The faces is a must!!!

[@StrangerE0ns]

Let’s not forget joe has to sing and do this at the same time... Mad lad

[@woden__]

Not always, Christian Andreu is the lead guitarist, so he'd be doing a lot

[@ItsNotNick]

just like plenty of other lead singer/ rythm guitarists in other bands?

[@ranatha]

@@ItsNotNick except for chuck schuldinner (death) and jeff waters (annihilator)

[@HijoDeDios999]

@@woden__ Joe Duplantier is the lead guitarist of Gojira, he plays literally almost all the leads

[@jotapedonoso4696]

Dude's just the biggest Chad ever

[@mqro1915]

All tapping edition: 1. The Gift of Guilt 2. A Sight to Behold 3. The Wild Healer 4. Silvera 5. Oroborus 6. Born in Winter 7. Global Warming 8. 04 9. How Dean Lamb tried to play Magma

[@MrKamillordo]

From Mars :) + To Sirius also has tapping I think.

[@guitaristkuro8898]

Global warming is a test of stamina more than anything. I can only get to the first riff before I die out.

[@TheMetalfan123]

04 isn't that hard for me. I think I'd have a harder time playing Wild Healer considering the pattern

[@dominikweber4305]

@@guitaristkuro8898 yes

[@maaaaaap]

source to lamb playing magma? lol

[@BackYardPropsWA]

Something about Gojira just comes natural to me, I’ve listened to metal my whole life and was looking for THAT band, something that just had “it.” I discovered Gojira and something about their guitar riffs and music was just it. Since then learning their songs is like second nature to me and it’s a blast to play their songs

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Their riffs definitely have a certain feel to them

[@recu9898]

The riffs are so fucking natural that it feels like they don't know shit about compozing but they fucking do. Shit's unbelievable.

[@mikeyt7880]

Same!! Gojira is the best!!

[@manspeej]

struggled to find a band with a similar feeling to them

[@nesto9889]

something about those open high strings and the rhythm

[@notinsane4165]

You've convinced me I'll go listen to Gojira.

[@WhaddupImJohn]

Enjoy

[@anthraxxru]

You should 🤘🏼

[@peaner083]

Haha you will love it. It's been about 2 weeks for me iam iam hooked. New album came with good timing and came in strong. Like dude said,enjoy.

[@peaner083]

*And iam hooked*

[@Orestis_Pafiliaris_90]

intro riff to toxic garbage island, so many things happening in such a tight space, also born in winter is a really good example of joe's playing ability

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Both really fun songs to play!

[@thatsui5557]

Esoteric surgery main riff is definitely the hardest gojira riff ever

[@scobrallon9948]

Agreed

[@Boreal9323]

All days

[@EvilSewnit]

It’s so fun to play though

[@thatsui5557]

@@EvilSewnit if you think that riff is fun to play you have a really good picking endurance cause every time I play it I fell like my arm is going to fall off my body😂

[@youknow-hm7cg]

what about wolf down the earth

[@stinkfist6422]

Every gojira record includes a short instrumental, and each one is just beautiful unicorn, the silver cord, tori, yellow stone, the wild healer....... All are so damn beautiful i don know what else to say

[@haginwald2536]

A Joe: new measure unity to evaluate the difficulty of a riff

[@TheSamuraiApocalypse]

I'm surprised Backbone was only number six. Being able to sustain that gallop through the whole song is a bitch. I don't know why. I can play straight sixteenth notes easier, and for the gallop all you're doing is removing the fourth sixteenth note in the beat. Now I want to play Backbone damnit!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

I find gallops more challenging than straight tremolo picking too. Every so often I think I'll give Bleed a go and my hand just gives in.

[@jacee8094]

I think the bridge riff is where it gets harder for me in Backbone tbh

[@EdddSaid]

I think its because you have to gallop on two strings. The movement in the hand is quite a lot more than if you were galloping on a single string.

[@aram282]

@@ShadowMantraSteve well i think it's hard cause you gotta play it for several minutes straight, and then you play fast tremolo, then you play TREMOLO OCTAVES. That's tough

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

True, those tremolo octaves are a real pain too!

[@lewy_g_official]

Esoteric Surgery - main and verse riff The Heaviest Matter of The Universe - verse riff Wisdom Comes - Triplet based riff that goes with the double bass Explosia - Verse riff Adoration for None - Verse riff Embrace The World - main riff Clone - Intro riff These aren't in a particular order and there are probably a lot I've left out, but all of these are quite challenging.

[@leoplat8318]

Couldn't agree more

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

I'd agree with those. Esoteric took me a while to nail.

[@captaingoose736]

That part of magma sounds like that kid that learned how to do a pinch harmonic

[@LordLuc94]

O that one kid.

[@eighteen-naked-cowboys]

me: backbone doesn’t look that hard the searing pain in my right wrist: allow me to introduce myself

[@eetfuk3571]

the main riff isn't really that hard especially if you have some experience of playing that kind of songs. the only hard part there was the octave.

[@eisaku4733]

my whole arm is traumatized of Backbone, and yet i still play it

[@perma9993]

Toxic Garbage Island would be #8 for me, it's funky and the 1-18 slide is also difficult

[@kioryu168]

I agree. The fast pinch harmonics are also hard !

[@michaelczesnozki1671]

In my opinion that is their hardest song from a technical stand point. The only 2 Gojira songs I still have a hard time with is Toxic Garbage Island and Born in Winter. Playing Born in Winter cleanly is so difficult to me. But I can play the Art of Dying no problem.

[@perma9993]

@@michaelczesnozki1671 Born in Winter isn't necessarily too hard if your decent witg tapping.

[@calyxl43]

toxic garbage island is a super easy song, except the start with harmonics and shi

[@akrmfk]

Still cant play magma. Bloody pinched harmonics

[@9ubagurbi6]

Maybe your guitar have not proper setup or gain on amp is too low

[@belcarra]

@@9ubagurbi6 there's always some sort of harmonic no matter how low the gain is, he is more likely just not that good at them yet

[@jackasmaracas4362]

Good pinches can depend on your pickup selection as well, that's if you have one

[@totallynotaidankeane2594]

Here I am struggling with esoteric surgery. My tremolo sucks, especially on the octaves

[@iezsekretep]

That's right, it's a pretty fucking hard one. Hard to play it flawlessly.

[@paburito9168]

Ya this is a tough one, but doable - practise !! ;)

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Just got to keep at it! You'll get there

[@stormcorrosion176]

Gojira got them Groovy Doom riffs.

[@GlassThirdEye]

The remembrance outro might the the sickest riff ever written.

[@ernestopaniagua232]

Me: *being able to play Flying Whales but not the Gift of Guilt* Ok so I'm at 4/9 Joes, good to know

[@sporkfr]

gift of guilt is easy wdym

[@ernestopaniagua232]

@@sporkfr I didn't say it wasn't, I said I can't play it I still can't get the tapping sound as it should

[@attempt58]

For us people with a rhythm background, Remembrance's breakdown isn't so bad. Backbone however, is very hard.

[@tetrahedrontri]

Hearing the programmed drums and it's not bad, but the fact is Mario is just so FUCKING GOOD, that hearing it like this is one of the few times I actually fervently miss a real drummer in the seat.

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

For sure. Mario is a beast of a drummer!

[@Nicolas_Cage525]

Damn, those Joe’s Duplantier faces on level is so cool) 😎👍

[@guitaristkuro8898]

And all of these are an absolute joy to play!

[@Idkwhtpsipto]

Backbone probably one of my all time fave tunes from anywhere tbh

[@cohenconnell3549]

the riff is fuckin smelt

[@ClaudioLuiz120195]

Thank you SO MUCH for showing how the outro of Esoteric Surgery was done! A major question of mine as a fan of theirs was finally solved (I'm a drummer, and I personally don't know that much about guitar and effects)

[@Popeye22221]

Just watched this as a drummer, just amazing! good luck guys!! still working my double pedals!

[@ConnorQuimby]

Getting the chugs right on Deliverance has always been tricky for me. Death of Me is also pretty hard.

[@yapchunglabhutia9000]

Esoteric surgery outro was the perfect way to end this video. Loads of love, good night🙂

[@davoliver1615]

Remembrance at the end, for sure! Good Job

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you 🤘

[@PontschPauPau3451]

Backbone is MUCH harder than the ones that come after that. The continuous double-string gallop at that speed makes it the only song out of all these that I still can't play.

[@corey1845]

I scrolled a bit down to not always see your borderline face mimics while playing but otherwise i enjoyed this ranking, thanks! well done.

[@hooliganstreet]

I think the most difficult one should’ve been Clone though. That’s an absolute monster of a song

[@eetfuk3571]

Esoteric Surgery definitely.

[@Gitfiddle]

9 levels of metal face. Nicely done!!!

[@az_gabriel]

Magma is from another world

[@ZeroKey92]

Just flying by through my recommended and I have to say, that guitar is a BEAUTY!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you, it's a Dean Cadillac Select from 09/10

[@auriepreece]

This is incredible bro!!! So funny and so impressive at the same time!!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Glad you liked it!!

[@my11isnot12]

The man is sucking on the required amount of lemons to be playing Gojira! 👌

[@andywagoner4869]

I love the Joe gauge of difficulty. I saw Gojira this past October finally after loving them for 10 years. They were absolutely phenomenal. Love your videos bud. Keep up the awesome work.

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

One of my favourite bands live, always on form.

[@pedrolantyer]

Honestly I don't really have a problem with Magma but Backbone is a completely different beast! I don't know what's more impressive, the tremolo picking or Mario's drumming.

[@ianguerrero6142]

Dude this is one of the best and original riffing videos i've seen in a long time, would be cool if you do it with other bands, you rock🤟😁

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

I'll probably end up doing some more! It seems quite popular.

[@RiffKing719]

Unicorn is the best song to teach a new player Harmonics :)

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

For sure!

[@tricksonafixed]

You’ve confirmed my fandom. I still gotta get more into the first 2 albums though.

[@diogoalmeida4115]

Gojira so brutal they can distort and manipulate space time itself so they can play an inverted riff

[@FlawlessRythym]

What I learned is that Gojira riffs aren't hard to play but can be hard to figure out. For example, the tempos and techniques are quite simple to learn but knowing exactly the right pinches for Magma would have been hard to find by ear. Even after playing guitar since I was 11, that part would still take me a week to figure out on my own. But the rest of the riffs would have taken me a lunch break. Lol.

[@032clayman21]

Great video! Death of Me it’s hard in the tremolo parts, but its groovy and fun to play!

[@rahulmenon4514]

esoteric surgery is my favorite gojira track

[@charlesrocks]

The algorithm has blessed me with this gem. Great work Steve!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thanks 🤘

[@briankeen5767]

I created a youtube account just so I can comment. This is how videos are done. No unnecessary speaking, played great, and it was a little comical.

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@JahGuarrr]

That bonus was dope

[@Cruxlytical]

Still think that the verse riff of Heaviest Matter is one of the trickiest to really master. I seem to mistime the changes from one note to the next just slightly everytime

[@Insignia27]

As someone who still can not figure out the pinch harmonic after 4 years of guitar, I think I literally shat myself when I saw magma. Like that riff is actually difficult. It wouldn't impress non-guitarists, but damn it sure as hell impresses me

[@hugalahugala5182]

I am in my 10th month and I can do pinch harmonic. The edge of your thumb should touch lightly while hitting the pick. You need to hit the pick at a slightly steep angle. You too will find it by trial and error. Lots of practice afterwards. And I think it is very enjoyable to practice with pinch harmonic.

[@SeansGuitarWorldBang]

Dude that was absolutely dope. Guy sings at the same time. Rediculous.

[@JB-nn6hj]

😂 immediately liked this when I saw the rating system was compromised of "Joe's", subbed when I saw the more emotional the faces got

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Welcome 🤘

[@talontd3727]

Sittin here on break banging my head! Almost 4/30/21!

[@merman671]

You my friend are a straight up stud.

[@pagzdoctolero3751]

That Jason Newsted Guitar face thou 🔥

[@austinlenzi9816]

you absolutely killed this shit dude.

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you 🤘

[@gabolujan]

The Cell riff is fucking heavy dude. Cool thing it's only 1 freaking note.

[@bostion518]

I struggle with Backbone but I can play Love and Remembrance just fine ._.

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Backbone definitely takes a fair amount of stamina to play all the way through. I still struggle if I don't practise it regularly.

[@bostion518]

@@ShadowMantraSteve yeah galloping over multiple strings is pretty hard

[@coreysmith9847]

You nailed the tone!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thanks 🤘

[@maggotmusic757]

OMFG YOU'VE GOT A DEAN CADILLAC!!! They're my favorite guitars bro, I absolutely love mine!

[@mrStevensan]

This was a fun warm up to play along too!!

[@TriggeredTuesdays]

Killing it Steve! Keep it up my dude!

[@ajfreeman564]

That's a wicked Dean and great playing!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you 🤘

[@rachelbraun8818]

I love as Joe is looking at you/us level after level...

[@BastienMiaou31]

Love... What a masterpiece

[@JonMurray]

Awesome dude! Also first time I’ve seen one of those Deans in the wild! Haha! New subscriber ✌🏻

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thanks 🤘🏻 Cadillacs seem hard to come by these days

[@JonMurray]

@@ShadowMantraSteve have you done SWOLA riff challenge before??

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Not yet, I keep meaning to!

[@JonMurray]

@@ShadowMantraSteve sorry man, I didn’t even reply to you. No worries! loads of great videos on your channel dude! 🤘🏻 Yeah? Old Deans man. One day!!! Haha! And yeah, something popped into my head that I’d seen you on SWOLA for some reason haha! Go for it dude, been going to do it for ages too.

[@marciobarbosa8308]

I always thought the outro was made in a computer. Good job man. 🇧🇷

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you 🤘

[@ShredworthyDave]

Killer Cadillac man!!! Great playing as well🤘

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you 🤘

[@joelmacy9558]

Sick video man !

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you 🤘

[@lambros8064]

I love how this man does exactly the same facial expressions as Joe

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

I think I've watched too many Gojira videos.... and Devin Townsend too

[@lambros8064]

@@ShadowMantraSteve you did well, gojira is the best band in the world. for me at least

[@ziltoid2409]

Props on the Empath hoodie! Awesome video.

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

It's the one with the Cat in Space in the back!

[@ziltoid2409]

@@ShadowMantraSteve Awesome! I have the same one and the sloth one

[@picochily]

Although I think Explosia should've been on here, I'm happy with this list. Excellent job shredding those riffs man!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you 🤘

[@aajthomas]

Gojira is MAGICAL!

[@dailyshit6329]

Loving that Dean!!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thanks 🤘

[@agustinwilliams6956]

I would put gift of guilt at max level, i mean, that riff is like the most... idk is perfect

[@rotsmeg]

I find the intro riff of Clone to be a tough one as well but maybe it's because of my weak pinky

[@franckbrognard3415]

Great job !

[@martinkguitarcover4933]

Nice work my friend

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you 🤘

[@XtremeKillah101]

Top 5 hardest gojira songs to play Imo (no specific order) 1) fire is everything (super fast octave sliding, harder than lizard skin octave slides) 2) clone (intro, semi fast alternate picking and need a good left hand + pull off riff) 3) magma (pinch harmonics hard to get in the exact spot) 4) bjorn in winter ( whole song tapping and probably their hardest tapping song) 5) esoteric surgery (herta riff kinda hard but once u get it it's pretty easy)

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

I remember learning fire is everything and the slides being a real pain

[@chloet9263]

You introduced me to Gojira, thanks, dude!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

You're welcome! An awesome band

[@humbertomouraoneto6366]

I was showing that Remembrance's riff to my brother yesterday. I said literally "damn look this riff... It's one of the most difficult things in the world..."

[@m1ch43l_k]

Esoteric Surgery main riff is so hard to play after intro tremolo riff

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

It's a tricky one for sure. Took a while for me to learn.

[@Shreddin_4_Life]

Deliverance is a fun but challenging song to play

[@aliabolhassani5820]

Amazing sir!!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you!

[@InFlames20bests]

I am so glad you included Magma, since this Riff is freaking unordinary and challenging.

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

For sure, I love the song, but it's a challenge to get right

[@MartinBellamyMBDrums]

Pretty accurate on all levels lol

[@unspokenghost8222]

You killed it🤘🔥

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thanks!

[@wesleyreimer3868]

Well done sir! You have amazing guitar tone and technique... Here's my sub...🤘😊

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thanks, and welcome!

[@doffl382]

Now there are Nine of them

[@ulriksbiceps390]

Great video man!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Glad you liked it!

[@azhelax1412]

Amazing!

[@brendanhayward7577]

You rock bro looking forward for the next song break down

[@pitrek121g]

There are triplets in backbone and it is definitely one of the hardest riffs of Gojira when played like that :P

[@NateN3ON]

Ugh those Cadillacs 🤩 just discovered these beauties recently

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

I feel they're underrated as a shape, though they seem to divide people!

[@RottenCheeseburger]

Oh fuck yes, I didn't expect the old shit on here (love) good stuff man

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you 🤘

[@pillznarRy]

those Joe faces are fucking PERFECT.

[@metalflower9543]

Awesome! 🔥🤘🏻 And... the faces lol 😆 nice channel, I subscribed!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thanks and welcome to the channel!

[@hexafluoreksiarki7680]

Ohhh this scale kicks me out