It's been no secret that one of the most refreshing, heaviest and most exciting Metal bands to come out in the 2000's is France's GOJIRA. Albums like "From Mars to Sirius" and "The Way of All Flesh" have solidified the band as one of the greatest modern Metal acts around today and have earned them scores of fans the world over. It really seems like only a short time since their last album "L'Enfant Savage" debuted that we see this brand new offering from them, this new album called "Magma", and boy is it a work to behold. To summarize, fans of GOJIRA will be ecstatic to hear this one.

If there is only one this to say about "Magma" as it compares to GOJIRA's past releases, it is that this record is rich with emotionality. There is a grandiose outpour of emotion on each of these songs. There are so many moments on several of these tracks where the aggression and passion reaches up to stratospheric heights. Feelings of wonder, aggression, and transcendence resonate the loudest within the production and composition. GOJIRA really live through their own music, if that makes any sense. And of course, the band's signature focus and adoration of our planet still remains the overarching theme of GOJIRA's work, like every other one of their records.

This record feels much more moodier and at certain times, much more psychedelic and even alternative. There are some riffs on songs like the title track "Magma" that sound like Joe and Christian are borrowing elements from CKY and RUSH. They make their guitar harmonics sound like a weird musical saw or synthesizer. The leads on "Magma" really take the song off the ground and give it wings. And songs like "Low Lands" really depart away from the crushing power of their instrumentation that of course gets brought back to their patented sound, which there are beloved for.

Joe Duplantier also produced "Magma" himself and this record really shows his exceptional attention to detail and tone. The songs are all leveled out very well and none of the effects really get too garish on the vocal bits. The self-created studio space that GOJIRA built in New York City really allowed the optimal space and tools to allow them to carefully construct "Magma" to match the quality of their past records. This studio actually made the Duplantier brothers move from their native country of France to the United States in order to commit to their music one hundred percent.

"Magma" is also a testament to how Mario Duplantier is still one of the greatest drummers of any Metal band out there at the moment. Songs like "Only Pain", "Silvera", and "Pray" demonstrate that Mario humbly rips and blasts through each and every song without sounding like a robot playing the same fills and rhythms on demand. Without their current drummer, GOJIRA would really only be half as good as they are. I think Mario's brother also took great care and pride to mix the drums as well as he did on each of these songs.

As you probably expected if you're already in the know, "Magma" was a triumph. You can expect that "Magma" is certainly going to be regarded as one of the best albums of this year and one of the best albums of GOJIRA's discography. If you're already a big fan of the band, pick this up right now and if you're someone who hasn't given this band a fair shake yet, now is a good time to see what you've been missing.