Fortitude is the seventh album from French heavy metal act Gojira, coming out in the latter part of 2021 on Roadrunner Records. The band continues to move away from their death metal roots into a more groove-laden, progressive/stoner sound, and while their music is still quite heavy, the ferociousness of their earlier material has been tempered a bit over the years, though it's no less enjoyable. Still present are the off-kilter, complex guitar riffs of Joe Duplantier, who is one of the more inventive players in metal, and the lead work if Christian Andreu is also exceptional as always. Many of the tracks on Fortitude carry some serious heft, like "Born For One Thing", "Another World", "Amazonia", the fast-paced thrash of "Into the Storm", the headbanging "New Found", and the near-death metal fury that is "Sphinx", but it's the mellower, moody stuff such as "Hold On", "The Chant" and the eerie title track that bring the surprises here. On these, Gojira mellows out without sounding commercial, acoustic guitars, atmosphere, and emotional vocals delivered without a hook to be found. Though they might sound odd to longtime fans, this isn't Gojira selling out one bit. Then you have the alluring, intoxicating "The Trails"....moody, alternative rock, but it works, with the band closing the album with the massive "Grind", easily the heaviest song on the album, and it grooves like a son of a bitch.
Plenty of variety to be found on Fortitude, and despite a couple of mellower, more experimental songs, this is still a very heavy record that sees Gojira doing what they do best. Recommended.
Track Listing
1. "Born for One Thing" 4:20
2. "Amazonia" 5:01
3. "Another World" 4:25
4. "Hold On" 5:30
5. "New Found" 6:37
6. "Fortitude" 2:08
7. "The Chant" 5:13
8. "Sphinx" 4:00
9. "Into the Storm" 5:02
10. "The Trails" 4:07
11. "Grind" 5:34
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