BeyondShook

Gojira has reached its creative peak with this one, and I will absolutely debate anyone that chooses to omit this from lists of Greatest Metal Albums Of All-Time. The Art Of Dying is extremely complex whilst egregiously beautiful. Oroborus scratches that tappy-riff part of your metalhead brain. Toxic Garbage Island has their most brutal intro to date. Ils sont fous, ces Français!

Gojira goes Post-Metal, slash Groove Metal, and it slaps. Some emotional tracks in there for sure, and some genuine heavy hitters as well, Whilst not replicating the pure, aggravated intensity that their 2000s albums brought, this remains a Gojira album through and through.

I want to like this record more, I do. But ''The Chant'' is genuinely their worst song to date. This is a follow-up from the more accessible, commercial sound of Magma, and whilst still packing a punch in the 2020s, their intensity seems to have declined here. Still, this is an album worth listening to every couple of months.

The pinnacle of Death and Chuck Schuldiner. This is the absolute most complete Tech Death Metal record to be released, to this day, even with all the new-school virtuosos. Not to mention that Spirit Crusher practically poofed the entire modern Metalcore scene into existence with one riff. And it's not even in the top 3 riffs of that song. Need I say more? RIP Chuck.