Gojira - Logan Square Auditorium, Chicago 10/9/09

Have you ever seen a band and during their set you get this overwhelming feeling that this band has so much potential to be truly huge? Well that was the feeling I got while watching the French outift known as Gojira last Friday night. I have only felt this feeling a few times in my life, for Metallica, Slayer and Deftones to be specific. All these bands have gone on to be extremely popular and influential as well so I hope I am right with Gojira. I recently had just heard of them although they have been churning out great metal since 1996. Many people had been telling me I need to hear these guys and see them live and man, did they live up to the hype this night! Apparently, they are supporting Metallica and Lamb of God on some dates on this tour and headlining others but it is apparent to me after seeing this band they are headed for great things.

They came out guns blazing with the song, Oborous, off their latest CD, The Way of All Flesh. The song has this hypnotizing tapped riff on guitar that just drives the song perfectly. The song is brutal yet extremely catchy and memorable. The crowd was instantly whipped into a frenzied mosh-pit which continued throughout the entire set. Gojira played with technical precision, perfectly balanced extremely professional huge sound, and the energy of a band playing as if their very lives depended on it! The excited crowd chanted "Gojira" between nearly every song in the way a Slayer audience would which I found simply amazing. The drum work of Mario Duplantier was nothing short of stunning, including a phenomenal drum solo. The twin guitar attack of guitarist/vocalist, Joseph Duplantier and guitarist Christian Andreau was absolutely breathtaking all rounded out by the thoughtful and equally great bass playing of Jean Michel Labadie. Also, worthy of mention was Joseph Duplantier's vocals. His vocals were ballsy yet distinctive and understandable reminiscent of an early James Hetfield.

After playing songs from their entire catalog, some of which I was familiar with others not, they came out for one final encore, Toxic Garbage Island off their latest album, The Way of All Flesh. This song was a perfect fast paced and brutal song. It had great harmonics and staccato parts, and a great chorus which whipped the crowd into one final onslaught of craziness. The crowd, including myself, actually booed when the houselights came up as they seemed truly disappointed that Gojira was finally over. Gojira has a way of striking that perfect balance between catchy, brutal, and melodic like few bands I have seen in recent years. Overall, an awesome show from a great band with an extremely bright future ahead of them!

Bill Jotzat