ARE THEY HARD ROCK NOW??? Gojira - Fortitude ALBUM REACTION

[@DigitalTiger101]

As a long time Gojira fan, I am soooo pleased with this album, especially compared to Magma. I think by now I've accepted that Gojira isn't the proggy death metal they once were on FMtS. What can I say, there isn't a song on this album I don't like. When Another World came out as the first single, I thought it was cool but just really repetitive. When The Chant came out, I was like "WTF is this? I hope the whole album isn't like this." After listening to the whole album, Another World fits really well in the context of the whole album and Fortitude + The Chant also work better in a whole album listen. I think some old school Gojira fans may not like the album and I think that's just cause this album is the new Gojira, not their 2005-2008 days. But New Found and Grind almost scratch that itch for me. In the future I really wish we could get old Gojira back, but the new Gojira has shown me they're worth my time and I really enjoyed every minute of this album. I'm stuck between giving this album a 9/10, or an 8/10. If I take this album on its own I give it a 9/10. But if I think back to what made me love Gojira in the beginning, I give it an 8/10.

[@gamedead9173]

I'm with you, between an 8 and a 9 out of 10. I came relatively late to the Gojira party so I really enjoyed Magma. I have a preference for atmospheric alternative metal over technical extreme metal so that's probably why. I still think TWOAF contains their best songs though. I think this album did a good job of combining most of their previous musical styles together, so in a way I think Gojira of old did come back with this one.

[@patfix]

Magma had the chance to make me a definite fan, but it disappointed me. Just didn't connect with it at all. I saw them live and that did impress me big time. Now this album does what Magma should have done, and solidifies me as a fan. Such a great combination of new and old Gojira. The hooks on this album are great and didn't mind the vocals and chorusses at all and they still brought the heavy back enough to please me and my neck muscles. This album is rivalling my top 3 of Flesh, L'Entant and Mars.

[@gamedead9173]

@@patfix I'm glad this one was able to make you a fan!

[@Gabthe79]

Massive album, one thing they’ve added to their most recent music is what i call sexiness. They have more groove, you can hear the bass more and they have parts where its more calm then go back heavy. And they still have their heavy sound, perfect mix for me.

[@gamedead9173]

I like sexy music 😋😎

[@gabrielsp_1]

Sphinx, New Found and Grind are the best one!

[@jinsakai9729]

Agreed! Hold On was sick too

[@brianyates3504]

HOWDY FROM NEW ENGLAND...I HAD HEARD OF GOJIRA FOR YRS BUT WHEN I CLICKED ON A LIVE SHOW IN 2014 I WAS INSTANTLY HOOKED!!! IM A DRUMMER AND WHAT MARIO DOES JUST BLOWS ME AWAY....SINCE THEN I HAVE LISTENED TO THEIR ENTIRE DISCOGRAPHY AND ENJOY IT ALL...WHATEVER MOOD IM IN THERE IS A SONG TO SUITE IT...EVERY MORNING I LISTEN TO BACKBONE SPACE TIME AND THE HEAVIEST MATTER IN THE UNIVERSE AND IT GETS ME READY FOR MY DAY....IT SEEMS EVERY SONG ON FORTITUDE WAS PRODUCED IN AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WAY AS THE ONE BEFORE....OF COURSE I LOVE THE HEAVINESS BUT WHEN THEY PULL BACK AND DO THEIR MORE AMBIENT SONGS YOU REALLY GET A SINCE OF THE MUSICIANSHIP BEHIND IT ALL...GOOD FAIR REVIEW BROTHER..PEACE FROM THE NORTHEAST ...

[@gamedead9173]

I can see that Gojira works better than coffee for you since you're SCREMING AT ME! Jokes, Jokes. Thank you for the kind words! :)

[@brianyates3504]

@@gamedead9173 ITS ALL GOOD IM LEGALLY BLIND SO I FIGURE CAPS IS EASIER TO HANDLE THAN CONSTANT TYPE-O'S...ROCK ON..PEACE

[@gamedead9173]

@@brianyates3504 Well that's understandable. I'm glad you're in good spirits about it and it's awesome you're a drummer! Rock on dude!

[@DorianTheReaper]

I disagree with the title already...

[@GodSmacK5181]

Ikr, apart from The chant, this is not even close to hard rock, I'd say it's more of a progressive groove metal direction

[@chapodepaille28]

This album has nothing to do with hard rock

[@gamedead9173]

The title was a question, not a statement. A thesis if you will. I had the title in mind before I even recorded the video. I actually agree with you that it's not entirely hard rock, but the singles that I had heard leading up to the album's release gave me the impression that they were leaning in that direction, hence why I went in with that question in mind. After hearing the album I still think they are edgeing closer to hard rock but have not fully crossed over into that territory.

[@gamedead9173]

I of course respect your opinion :)

[@DorianTheReaper]

@@gamedead9173 ah okay i didn't get that.

[@mouadmoiad4724]

Album top 10/10💚🏅

[@gamedead9173]

I'm glad you enjoyed the album that much! Would you say it's your favourite Gojira album now?

[@hendrikkiefer3325]

@@gamedead9173 can't decide between FMTS, TWOAF or L'Enfant Sauvage

[@gamedead9173]

@@hendrikkiefer3325 they all have great elements!

[@F13thvoorhees]

This album is hard to digest, but not in a bad way. There's a lot going on here musically, lots of twists and turn that leave you feeling a bit confused and unbalanced at first for sure. There's a lot more melodic instrumentals to be found here, which is not par the course for certain, although Magma deviated that way a fair bit. The songs complement each other in a way that makes the album feel "human", in a sense, it hits a lot of different places both emotionally and philosophically, but it's by far the most "positive" leaning out of all of their albums (coming from a place of rebellion and self belief). Aesthetically speaking, this album has a certain warmth and tenderness that I can't place in ANY of their other work this far, something profoundly unique the "Fortitude". The clean outro to "Grind" hits me in a way that reminds me of "Heaven and Hell" by Black Sabbath I'm on probably about my 15th listen at this point and I can say for sure your opinion will improve with time. Good honest review man. 🤘

[@gamedead9173]

Thank you! What you said about it feeling more 'human' struck me. I would have to agree. It's much less mechanical feeling than past album's. I would say most of the album is growing on me but I still can't get behind "The Chant". In fact, the last time I listened I skipped both that and the title track (which is not common for me with albums).

[@locsbcn]

All the album si f...g gréât!! Exept sphinx for me

[@GregPYatesJr]

"Oroborus" is NOT the title track from the album "The Way Of All Flesh", that would be the last track entitled "The Way Of All Flesh"

[@gamedead9173]

Did I say that? If I did, my mistake 😳

[@vincentforest4074]

Why so many dislikes? You just gave your honest opinion.

[@gamedead9173]

I have to assume it's because of the title and thumbnail but if it's not then I would really like to know so I can fix whatever mistakes I made for next time.

[@EhtaZUGGE]

Honest opinions aren't well received among fanatics. I feel like many people come to reactions/reviews to find people that agree with them so they feel more confident about their choice in music and it _fortifies_ their opinion and any critique is disheartening. It's kind of sad that because of this the review videos that flourish are the ones where a meathead is just banging his head going: "oh yeah this is groovy oh what a banger this is so good holy shit wow this is the best shit ever" and not really contributing anything except telling you what you want to hear. Sorry for the rant.

[@gamedead9173]

@@EhtaZUGGE it was a good rant! Even though you're just telling me what I want to hear 😉 lol

[@vincentforest4074]

@@EhtaZUGGE Couldn't have said it better!

[@patfix]

@@EhtaZUGGE Yes, and I'll admit that sometimes I also want that confirmation. But I would never dislike a video because someone is honest, quite the contrary. Didn't agree with everything my man here said, but I appreciate his opinion and enjoyed the video.

[@goonercestlavie]

More accessible, getting the success, recognition that they deserve oui oui. I can understand why you liked Oroborus a lot, pretty awesome track. Another World is a good tune definitely. Beautiful music video too. Interesting that it's one of your favorites when we know the huge catalog of Gojira, weirdly enough. You're not wrong about Magma. Fortitude is in the continuity with a combination of many eras, some more transitions, complexity with some simplicity too with the choruses. In terms of the mix of the album i'm not sure what you talked about regarding compression etc, it seemed fine. My biggest issue personally is with the mix of some vocals in some tunes, not loud enough for me. Concerning the bridge of amazonia i think it's great especially with the lyrics, the music video too. In terms of bouquet final for the last track of the album i liked what they did on Grind. I liked that they went more melodic in the singing aspect of the choruses of many tunes of the album, anthemic. Good to engage, to get the crowd involved with the headbanging. I understand what you said about New Found, the end of the track, the fact that they add some stuff. It might feel all over the place or some parts disconnected a bit from the rest but i don't really feel this way or i liked it, it still fits or works for me and they like to do that since the beginning of their career, crazy transitions, experimental vibes. I think that they managed to make things work and coherent, it's very Gojira, that's just them. The Chant lags a bit but it's a ride. With fortitude just before it can feel longer héhé. Still progressive, interesting gojira 'solos' and a really nice music video, cinematic. Sphinx great track of course. Into the storm, i wouldn't say that the transitions are sloppy, i think that it fits the message of the song and in one transition they experimented a bit. Good that you liked The Trails, cool to see Joe going for it vocally. Fun skateboarder on Grind. Powerful raging vibe to go hard with a nice ending. Cute dog, good that he liked Gojira ! Magma was pretty damn good. This one is pretty good too, some great tracks bangers. High quality. It's cool that they went more catchy for the choruses. In terms of the coherence, the writing, it's pretty interesting and makes sense. It starts with more dark vibes in the first songs towards the light, hope, résilience, fortitude, positive messages of courage that fit some anthem encouragements vibes. Taking action, going into the storm of new opportunities, being the change like in the chorus of silvera. Going within, keys, force in us.

[@gamedead9173]

Wow. I appreciate you watching to the end of the video and especially commenting on almost every section of my hour long video! You're awesome! :)

[@brezhoneg9159]

People are so focused on From Mars to Sirius it's pathetic. I would be an artist I would like to do something other than extreme metal after 20 years of career. I love the new album, it's very prog with a lot of "classic" rock/stoner elements

[@gamedead9173]

It's hard to say if people are more focused on that album because it contains their highest quality material or if it's because it's brutal and that's what people want over and over.

[@brezhoneg9159]

@@gamedead9173 Both. This is their best but cannot be reproduced, they were young. It was the photography of that time. The setlists always contain these songs.

[@gamedead9173]

@@brezhoneg9159 yeah, that's what I was thinking.

[@renebethke7132]

Dude, ever think the lack of production is your headphones..they seem cheap 🤣 Know your facts, thats a Andy Wallace production son... 😒

[@Moaringvalley]

I dont understand a lot of your reasoning. You say the production is compressed, its not. You say its a compromize between magma and enfant, thats a hard sale for me. You say they are trying to please different demographics with putting heavy and soft sections into songs that appeal to the different groups, But the sections dont go well together. Thats a really strange interpetation in my opinion. You say you got into gojira with magma and you liked that Direction they were taking with that album, how can you «like» a new Direction when its the one you discovered first. Im not trying to be mean, But it seems like you are trying to apease haters and super fans with contradictions.

[@Moaringvalley]

«They fill every song with a drum solo or a guitar solo, because they think the song needs to have every song fulfill that metal song need» Huh? Guitar solos? In gojira? What are you talking about

[@gamedead9173]

You don't have to agree with my interpretations of the music. That's fine. I may have been slightly off base with the guitar and drum solos though. Skimming over a few of the songs that I thought had them I realized it's more sections that emphasize one instrument over the other as opposed to a solo. I still feel like they often try to deliver the complete metal package with most of their songs as opposed to letting each song have its own unique character.

[@gamedead9173]

If anyone has any feedback on what could have made this video better I would appreciate it if you let me know here in the comments. Thank you for watching! :)

[@DigitalTiger101]

I'm not sure what's with the downvotes, I think it's just because of the title. I watched the whole thing and enjoyed that you have legitimate opinions and criticism instead of feeling like you had to only give praise.

[@gamedead9173]

@@DigitalTiger101 thank you!

[@Burn462]

What is this review? Gojira did solos on every song before Magma? Name one... Sick of all these new Gojira fans glorifying the last two albums for being “great” and acting like they get the back catalogue. These last two Gojira albums are good but nothing on everything else that came before. Also; “5 tracks as a teaser is too much.” This album was ready for release April 2020. I can’t blame the band for putting so much out. “My favourite is another world,” and “it’s classical, typical Gojira,” says it all. You don’t understand this band.

[@metaldealer]

What does it matter what genre they are?

[@gamedead9173]

It ultimately doesn't. If you're referring to the title of my video than the main I reason I put that in there was to get people to click on the video. I know it seems dirty but it's the game we youtubers have to play. I don't think it was clickbait though as I wasn't making a false statement. I was asking a question before I went into the video. I think I was using the term hard rock more as an indicator of if they watered down their sound for mass appeal or not. I think asking THAT question does matter.

[@gamedead9173]

I also wanted to have a sort of silly, over the top title and thumbnail. I dont actually think they're a hard rock band now. It wasn't meant to be taken too seriously.

[@DigitalTiger101]

@@gamedead9173 Not clickbait at all. Compared to what Gojira once was, I think the comparison of "hard rock" is fair even though they're still obviously metal.

[@gamedead9173]

Thank you to everyone who watched this video (even if you didn't like it I still appreciate it!). I didnt expect this to do as well as it did! Hopefully you enjoyed the video but if you didn't than I'll do what I can to make better videos in the future. Thank you all! Muah 😚

[@kevemms]

People are setting up themselves with low expectations these days. Any song from FMTS or TWOAF will blow away every song from this album. Gojira for this record has disappointed me.

[@gamedead9173]

I agree with you to some extent. When you love a band then you crave a certain thing from them. When you get said thing you cherish it so deeply even if it's a diluted version. Is Gojira's best work seemingly behind them? Yes. Most would probably agree with that. Though if you look at it from the perspective of a newcomer hearing this band for the first with this album, especially if they're new to metal, they would probably think its some of the best Metal music around today. They still have a lot of the DNA of what made them great to begin with, so that has to count for something in terms of them being a worthwhile band today.

[@kevemms]

@@gamedead9173 For a newcomer, I think this will do it. I don't mind Gojira getting more groovier with their sound. Gojira are what they are because of the death metal riffs and this is getting only sparsely with each album. The epicness of the like Flying Whales, TAOD, Mouth of kala, In the wilderness are also missing these days.

[@hosseinshahabandaz5469]

@@kevemms i'm an old fan and this album SLAYES

[@MaMichels]

Man I really cant get into this album, I gave it a 4/10...

[@gamedead9173]

What were the elements you didn't enjoy?

[@MaMichels]

@@gamedead9173 If you are actually interested I have written down some of my thoughts in a kinda long reddit comment! www.reddit.com/r/gojira/comments/n15u4g/album_discussion_fortitude/gwfojk9/?context=3

[@Allraincarry]

So damn true. Can`t understand hype around. Mix is so bad, songs are just same ideas from previous albums. If someone listens all albums, it will be clear.

[@Tritoness]

Exactly my thoughts, the vocals ruins most of their songs. 3 tracks that are album worthy are New Found, Fortitude as an interlude and The Trails. Some other ‘good’ songs, but nothing exceptionnal. Well put together, i share your opinion.

[@MaMichels]

@@Tritoness thank you man

[@chrisp.916]

The album is lame ... RIP Gojira

[@deathmetal034]

nah