A lot has been said and written about the album “Fortitude” by the French technical death metal band Gojira, since its release in April 2021. Now as the end of the year draws near and we go through the best albums of 2021, I wanted to say a few words on this powerful album.
Distinguished by their environmental activism in the metal genre – not forgetting the all vegan Architects and Brazil’s Sepultura- , Gojira points to the agony of our planet and revolts against the destruction and pain caused by humans and does that in “French Chique” through their music. Metal music already including the term “rebel” in itself by design, overlaps with the ideology of the band which raises its voice against all the damage done by our species, not only to our planet but also to all the creatures sharing this planet with us. In that sense, as I try to emphasize at all times in my essays and my broadcasts, the topics and lyrics of the metal genre are always satisfactory to the listener in terms of underlining either an existentialist problem, speaking of literature and art, or pointing to environmental issues as does Gojira. (Here I would like to say that those metal bands whose lyrics deal with cannibalism, violence, hate, racism and discrimination, and thus spreading the negative, are not and will not figure in my reviews and articles here in Metal Oda because we have enough evil in the world.)
Let’s look at the lyrics of “Amazonia” drawing our attention to the destruction of the Amazon rainforests, labeled as the “Lungs of the World” and to the suffering of its indigenous people, and all that in the name of profit and money:
Burn,
Another gold mine is unveiled.
There is a fire in the sky,
You are in the Amazon,
The Greatest Miracle
Is burning to the ground.
In terms of music, the agression of the drums and the brutal vocals completely match the feeling of protest that Gojira wants to emphasize. The use of the mouth harp in Amazonia (which is originally a musical instrument with roots in Central Asia), the ethnic rhythms and the cover art of the album, all point to the indigenous people of the Amazon. Here let’s state that Gojira is a fundraiser for Articulation of Indigenous People of Brazil (APIB), a Brazilian indigenous rights charity, dedicated to those native people suffering from harassment and violence due to the deforestation of the Amazon region. And let’s add that unfortunately, since 2019, the Brazilian government is turning a blind eye to the destruction of the rainforests.
Here it would be appropriate to remind the reader once again 
that in 2021, we have listened to very powerful music from bands who spoke about the darkness of the dystopian world in which we are living: from Leprous to Iron Maiden and to many more, bands lamented our world dominated by the pandemic, forest wildfires, nuclear disasters, acid rains, climate change, deforestation, plastic pollution, refugee problem, hunger, misery, and wars. Artists and musicians all expressed their pain and agony caused by our twisted and dark world, and Gojira is no exception. (my detailed reviews on “Senjutsu” and “Aphelion” are available here on metaloda.com). As an engineer with MSc. Degree in Environmental Sciences I remember that when I was a student, people were considering environmental issues non sense, rubbish. Recycling and climate change were subjects to make fun of: but now as we have started to suffer the consequences of our greed and carelessness, we see how important it is to be environmentally conscious and to have more people studying and researching in the field of environmental sciences.
Duplantier brothers, whose childhood was spent in the heart of nature, show their respect and compassion for Mother Nature and protest against all the destruction and slaughter through their music and lyrics in “Fortitude”. One good example are these lyrics from “Another World”:
“We mock and slaughter all the purest kinds
Blinded by the noise and maze, this flash in our eyes”
“Fortitude” is not the first album of Gojira dealing with environmental issues: another one coming to my mind immediately is the 2005 “From Mars to Sirius” speaking from the climate change and intelligent marine creatures such as whales and dolphins suffering the impacts of both climate change and man-made slaughter. While congratulating the band for all their nominations and awards in 2021, I must say that I am looking forward to hear more music from Gojira next year, because the world needs sensitive and environmentally conscious artists and bands like them, who send a powerful message through their music.
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