As I managed to miss the first act, not on purpose I promise! I was comfortably in time for the main support THE EYES OF A TRAITOR. With all GOJIRA’s kit talking up the stage the band was squashed on stage like sardines, so I have a feeling their show was a bit more restrained than normal. Onto the sound, having never heard their music this was going to be a steep learning curve. On first impression they have a solid metalcore sound. What grabs you attention is some surprisingly technical guitar work, combined with well thought-out and plentiful breakdowns, Jack Delays mix of clean and growling vocals and some tight soloing THE EYES OF A TRAITOR are an above average support.

With the crowd suitably warmed up thanks to THE EYES OF A TRAITOR, GOJIRA took to the, now much more spacious, stage. The first time I saw them was supporting INFLAMES last year and I was impressed with their sound and frantic onstage performance. With no sign of a stripy shirt or baguette in sight GOJIRA are a serious band with a fairly apocalyptic view of mankind’s impact on the world today. Not that much of it comes across live as Joe Duplantier’s death metal growling vocals are pretty hard to make out.

What you are left with is some truly epic songs. From the great set opener that is ‘Oroborus’ straight into the appropriately named ‘Heaviest matter of the Universe’ which got the mosh pit into full swing. Then it was down tempo for the eerie intro of ‘Love’, blasted away a minute later by Mario Duplantier’s double bass pedal thunder. Other set highlights were ‘Toxic Garbage Island’ and the set closer ‘Vacuity’ which is a master class of brutality onto itself!

So if you yearn for bit more out of your death metal bands check out GOJIRA live or sink your teeth into their latest album ‘The Way of All Flesh’.

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Review and Photography by Alexander Shaw(Photo Gallery)