Monster music

IN the same way that some (but not all) Godzilla films make you ponder larger issues of atomic warfare, environmental destruction and globalization, so does Gojira (the Japanese alias for Godzilla) confront the metalhead with substantive themes -- most notably the inevitability of death and the slim hope of an afterlife -- with the stunning The Way of All Flesh, released in October. Each of the 12 tracks that make up the French metal band's fourth full-length CD sounds like skyscraper-smashing Japanese giant monsters tearing their way across burning mega-cities.

It's not all sound and fury signifying destruction, however. Joe Duplantier (vocals, guitar), brother Mario Duplantier (drums), Christian Andreu (guitar) and Jean-Michel Labadie (bass) perform with a shocking and awesome combination of sculpted rhythms and clean-as-a-razor recording techniques. The song "Toxic Garbage Island," for instance, screams and stomps like an enraged Tyrannosaurus Rex, while "Wolf Down the Earth" will rattle your molars to dust. A concept album about death and the ongoing ruin of our planet, The Way of All Flesh infuses intellect and passion into a largely monotonous genre. Gojira certainly destroys the stereotype that French rock bands can't rock. There's just no way the band could have any rivals in its native county.

"I wouldn't use that word rivals, but we do have friends in the French metal scene," says Joe Duplantier during a recent phone interview from his home in Bayonne, France. "There are very good, solid bands that could blow away any crowd in the U.S. But because a lot of them sing in French, it makes it hard for them to reach an international audience."

There is really nothing heavier, no bigger monster, than Godzilla. But Godzilla also serves as a symbol of environmental destruction, the films often interpreted as warnings about nuclear testing and the horrors it can unleash. Gojira, however, has a more complicated appreciation for the low-budget film franchise. "It's what you said, yes," says Duplantier. "But it was interesting, when we adopted this name Godzilla. We took the name because we liked the fact that, in the films, there's clearly a guy in a suit, and it's funny. We didn't want to take ourselves too seriously, even though we were playing technical and brutal death metal. We like both ways of looking at it: sometimes humorous, other times scary."

Duplantier says he's ashamed to admit it, but he hasn't seen all the Godzilla films. Still, he finds the atmosphere of Mothra vs. Godzilla to be intriguing, as it says a lot about Japanese trauma in the aftermath of World War II. "We're not saying the war was good or bad," says Duplantier. "And we really don't have an opinion about the bombs, but clearly we think war sucks in general."

Necessity of the Bomb aside, Gojira offers definite opinions on environmental decay in the form of the track "Toxic Garbage Island," which sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel. It's not, though. There is, in fact, a giant mass of plastic stew floating around the world's oceans. "I think it's an interesting picture -- an island made of garbage," says Duplantier. "It's right under the surface of the water, and it's the size of Texas. A song like 'Toxic Garbage Island' is a good way to point our finger at what's happening to Earth. We don't have a solution, but maybe people will think about what it all means."

Forget environmentalism. How does Joe make that Godzilla-like shriek on his guitars?

"I can't tell you the whole secret, but I can tell you it was an accident," says Duplantier. "We were touring around Belgium, having done 100 gigs, and the more we would play the more we adopt a looser approach toward our instruments. One night, I began making strange noises with my right hand on the strings. A lot of what we do in the studio comes from playing live, and this was an accident that I just repeated in the live setting."

Lyrics are integral to the band's style. The first song off Flesh has the line: "Death is illusion." "To me, it's the most important thing we're doing: expressing hope," says Duplantier. "It's maybe more important than the music. I write the lyrics and put a lot of intention into what I'm saying. Ultimately, we realize that nothing is more important than positive intention or thinking."