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Rating:
Personality, technique, courage and artistic acumen, songwriting skills and taste in the final realization: these are the peculiar elements with which the French Gojira shape their music, thus releasing what, in my humble opinion, is their best work, in which their true artistic maturity is reached.
Released in 2008 by Listenable Rec., "The Way of All Flesh" is the fourth album of the transalpine combo: from the raw beginnings, they have slowly but inexorably evolved from the initial very technical death metal, but quite lacking in ideas and groove, to the current personal vision, difficult to classify. We can find elements related to modern thrash metal ("Toxic Garbage Island"), as well as to a certain metalcore (the single "Vacuity"), in some cases (quite limited to be honest) the most ferocious death (the vocals in all the songs primarily and then "All in Tears" and especially "Esoteric Surgery"), without forgetting a certain inclination towards progressive, certainly due to the exquisite technique of the musicians, but also due to the taste for experimentation not for its own sake (see the opener "Oroborus," "A Sight to Behold" and especially the first part of the powerful "The Art of Dying").
"The Way of All Flesh" is a complex work, not easy to assimilate, with an impact that is anything but friendly: if at first listen the monolithic nature of the proposal is the biggest hurdle to overcome (the overall duration of the album doesn't help in this), one is nevertheless fascinated by its tortuosity, changeability and by the remarkable and massive use of dissonances and unusual melodies, by the dedication of its creators in crafting layered songs that with each subsequent listen reveal themselves to be increasingly engaging, thanks to the countless sound elements filling the musical substrate.
The guitar sound is rocky and sharp, feral and crystalline, and quite rare for the nature of the proposal, the bass (obviously distorted) is always well audible and indeed often takes center stage, not so much in improbable solos, but in sustaining and fortifying the very tight rhythm. Last but not least, the percussion timbres are extremely realistic, clear in the cymbals and free from bombastic manipulations in the toms/bass drum, all to further highlight the excellent and personal work performed by Mario Duplantier (his brother Joe gives life to the vocals and guitar, while on bass we find Jean Michele Labadie and on the other guitar Christian Andreu).
Ultimately, a truly intelligent proposition and certainly recommended to those who can no longer bear the current metal routine and want to find a parallel evolutionary theory to the musical extremism in vogue today.
Enjoy your listening.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
06 All the Tears (03:41)
Are we left all alone?
Mother has no time but she cares for me
And she cried all the tears
I am joining now the river flow
I am three days old
Now the time has come
You have to be man
I don't want to destroy
The only chance I have
To survive down here
The wind blows I'm so scared
And the waves so big, I'm not prepared
I will have to be strong
But for now I cry all the tears
Now enter the storm and feel electric sword
My entire life is about to burn
I am struggling, life is illusion
But I keep the dream of a better time
This secret knowledge
I receive from where I am
So precious the treasured icons
Extended to this point
Forget the ones that hurt
They all want, they struggle
They fight and try to dry their tears
We are all left on our own
We are bound yet by each others lives
Now I'm leaving this world
I will never forget the river flow
The pains and traps of life
I put my scars away and love
I have to face the truth of living
I left my boat behind
I am not taking it
Where I go I won't be crying
I die
07 Adoration for None (06:19)
Everyone is doing their best to destroy it
simplicity's forgotten
and we all drill the ground
I stand free
I refuse to be surrounded
the stones and dust bite hostile
devours flesh and bones
the weakest lost in hatred
consequence is upon your door
reponsible for my own life
I'm reborn again and again
Driven to increase my own power
by creation the purest choice
destined to rule my life
and go the way of all flesh
nature is my only master
I will bow to no one
the ground is dry like rock
without any hope left
but now I decide to grab my life
with my hands
crave for freedom build my own life
adoration for none
Reaction is a weakness the strong cannot afford
my path is not determined by actions of others
they fill themselves with hate
covering their faces blackened
the wolves are back and crave to kill
slip on stones and break their legs
try to hide from termination
but the time has come
you will have to pay the debt of nature
And now you are the one
to change the face of the world
you wield the sword the pain is left aside
I have left my tears behind me
so I re find the way that I know
so bright to me
and I only adore the fact that we are the creators
of our own lives
lust for power is the master disease of our time
this force alone devours the weak
and rules the strongest
So mired in convolution
it chokes the life from your throat
break the chains of complication
I breathe the air of freedom
There is no room for your judgement
my life is mine alone
I purge myself to resentment
I breathe the air of freedom
breathe...
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Other reviews
By fede
"The Way Of All Flesh has a characteristic that belongs only to masterpieces: it knows how to conquer more with each listen."
"‘The Art Of Dying’ is almost ten monumental minutes, the perfect synthesis of Gojira’s thought: tribal, nerve-wracking, killing in riffing, obsessive in drumming, distressing, and touching in vocals."
