In the Deep End

The making of Gojira’s From Mars to Sirius

No one’s saying that Gojira’s first two albums aren’t monsters in their own right—smart money definitely leans toward 2003’s The Link—but when the French death metal crew dropped From Mars to Sirius in 2005, it was one of those moments where you stopped what you were doing for a second to listen to what was happening. It was massive; it was the sound of a band growing up; a band creating a massive seismic shift of a record; a band becoming more than the sum of its parts.

Amazingly, it was also the sound of a band winging it, as Gojira—made up then and now of guitarist/vocalist Joe Duplantier, guitarist Christian Andreu, drummer Mario Duplantier and bassist Jean-Michel Labadie—recorded much of the album themselves, not really knowing what they were doing. But it worked, From Mars to Sirius putting the band on the international stage as well as cementing their legacy in the extreme metal underground thanks to nods from Metallica and Lamb of God as well as an increasing presence in more extreme circles due to their death metal past and the backing of Listenable Records.

But no one said it wasn’t a gamble: the record clocks in at over an hour, is a concept album, and tackles big environmental issues. Plus, there’s whales on the cover. So, yes, with this album, Gojira plunged in blowholes-deep to a journey that continues to this day, the band’s lineup alarmingly intact, as is their strong environmental stance, all these years later.

But today, we’re going back in time, to when From Mars to Sirius changed everything for the four young men in Gojira, and we’re going to place it in our Hall of Fame, where an album of such massive import belongs. The whales can’t fit, but the huge waves of forward-thinking death metal most certainly can.

Need more Gojira? To read the entire seven-page story, featuring interviews with all members on From Mars to Sirius, purchase the print issue from our store, or digitally via our app for iPhone/iPad or Android.