Gojira tends to operate in polar extremes. “I can’t help but see humanity as a parasite,” Gojira’s  co-founding guitarist and principal songwriter Joe Duplantier explains, “and yet the most  beautiful things come out of humans.” To that end, the French quartet—Duplantier and his  brother Mario [drums], Christian Andreu [guitar], and Jean-Michel Labadie [bass]—have spent  the past 15 years translating this duality into a distinctive sound: dark, crushing metal brightened  by triumphant arena-rock melodies, contrast-heavy and emotionally charged.  Enter 2016's Magma, whereupon Gojira found strength—and crossover success—through a  singular commitment to self-reflection. The intensely personal record, penned in memory of the  Duplantier brothers' late mother, was a painful significant turning point for the French group. It  debuted at No. 24 on the Billboard 200 chart, topped the Billboard “Hard Rock Albums” chart (a  first for a French band), and netted nominations for Best Rock Album and Best Metal  Performance (for "Silvera") at the 59th annual Grammy Awards. Numerous global headlining  tours, including a stint with Metallica, followed. Coming out of Magma, Gojira weren't just one of  the biggest metal bands on the scene—they were one of biggest rock bands in the world,  unified and self-emboldened.  Humbled and honored as he was by Magma’s success, Duplantier came out of that victory lap  feeling exhausted—and eager to move on. “Magma marked a sad moment in our lives,” Joe  says of the record. “We were expressing grief, so it was a bit heavy: not only to the process of  making that album, but also talking about it, and playing the songs, and doing all of these  interviews around a difficult time in our lives.”  And so, Gojira made a group decision: for album number seven, Fortitude, they’d have some  damn fun. In late 2019, the brothers Duplantier returned to Silver Cord Studio, their Ridgewood,  Queens, headquarters, to begin work on new, self-produced Gojira material, culled from ideas  they’d developed over the past two years. “With this album, we wanted to come back with more  joy, more power, and more positivity about life in general,” Joe explains. “We’re so lucky to do  what we love; it’s not like we were depressed or anything, but we had something in our system  to express—Magma—and we felt like it was time for something else—something that is all  about strength.”  "The writing process was very thrilling and exciting," Mario adds. "Joe and I really dug deep into  every song, paying particular attention to the structures and arrangements. Every idea, every  single riff, was analyzed with a fine-tooth comb: everything from the tonality of each instrument  and scales used, to the dynamics, interpretation, and tempo. We left nothing to chance.”  Of course, 2020 had other plans. Just as Fortitude was nearing completion—halfway through  the mixing process, to be exact—COVID-19 hit, bringing Gojira, along with the rest of the  world—to an abrupt halt. While waiting out the lockdown back home in France with his family,  Joe re-examined the songs from a post-pandemic perspective; not only did they fit the turmoil of  the time, in hindsight, they were downright prophetic. “In a way, I saw these songs being born  again with a new meaning,” he says. “Every single song ever written resonates differently these  days, but it’s almost like we felt like this was going to happen.”  To be clear, Fortitude isn’t intended as a musical escape hatch from all this unending global  misery. Actually, it’s the opposite: a series of searing motivational speeches urging humanity to  imagine a new world—and then make it happen. “Come on! Get back on your feet! Go for it!”  Joe says of the album’s themes, briefly stepping into the role of life coach. “Everyone wants to  hear that once in a while, and we want to be that to people: the little voice in your head that says  you’re a fucking badass, and that you can do it.”  First single “Born For One Thing” kicks off the album in typical Gojira fashion: hyper-focused but  unhinged, confrontational and yet compassionate. “We have to practice detaching ourselves  from everything, beginning with actual things,” Joe says of the song’s anti-consumerist  message, which was partially inspired by the Tibetan and Thai philosophers he read in his youth  back in France. “Own less possessions, and give what you don’t need away, because one day  we’ll have to let everything go, and if we don’t, we’ll just become ghosts stuck between  dimensions.”  Gojira pivot to more earthly concerns on “Amazonia,” a lush ripper interwoven with indigenous  folk instruments and Sepultura-inspired groove-metal rhythms. The soundscapes skew verdant,  but the themes prove anything but idyllic, as Duplantier surveys the endangered Amazon  rainforest, concluding: "The greatest miracle/ Is burning to the ground.” Proceeds from the song  will benefit the indigenous Guarani and Kaiowa tribes, continuing Gojira’s career-long tradition  of harnessing their music as a vehicle for environmental activism (their partnership with the Sea  Shepherd Conservation Society goes back over a decade). “We don't want to just release a  song called "Amazonia"—we want to do something on top of that,” Joe explains. “We feel a  responsibility as artists to offer a way for people to take action.”  The album-long call to action comes to a head with “The Chant,” a slow-burning track singled  out by Mario as Gojira’s most melodic material to date. Where past anthems were driven by  nuanced dynamics and technical guitar arrangements, “The Chant” is a self-described “healing  ritual” emanating primordial warmth, culminating in a harmony-stacked chorus that bridges the  gap between ancient hymnals and contemporary rock. Consider Joe’s two-word rallying cry in  the refrain—“Get strong!”—Fortitude’s mantra, as well as the band’s mission statement heading  into this new, uncertain decade. Gojira struggled; Gojira persevered; Gojira rose. Now, it’s our  turn...and the soundtrack is at the ready.

A Tear expands on the narratives hinted at on A Different Shade of Blue, their highly lauded 2019 full-length that cemented them as one of heavy music’s most prominent acts. With quarantine upending their extensive touring schedule — “we’ve kind of been consistently on the road since 2014,” says Garris — the group found themselves in early 2020 sequestered near their hometown of Louisville, in Oldham County, Kentucky. By June, they were hunkered down in a cabin in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, focused on writing a concept album. By the end of September they had finished recording A Tear in the Fabric of Life. Musically, the songs were written in order and speak to each other. On the opener, “Where Light Divides the Holler,” ambient sounds of a radio switching give way to a harsh, punishing breakdown. “Permanent,” the closer, is crushing, and ends in a majestic, almost soundtrack-like ring-out. In between there are new elements — guitars droning out, radio interludes, vocal-only suites — and the immediate heaviness listeners have come to expect from Knocked Loose. It’s hardcore, filtered through what Garris says is a more prominent death metal influence. The new sounds the band never tried before have the goal, guitarist Isaac Hale says, of making everything sound “more extreme and more abrasive.” Which is saying something. Young, but accomplished — along with Garris and Hale, there’s Kevin Otten (bass) and Kevin “Pacsun” Kaine (drums), everyone in their mid to late twenties — the band’s been trading on heaviness for a while. “We’ve written a lot of songs,” says Hale, “and a lot of breakdowns.” Their discography — along with Blue, there’s Laugh Tracks, from 2016, both on Pure Noise, as well as a demo and a handful of singles — is full of them. Every record up to A Tear has been very much hardcore, building off its predecessor, adding some metal and higher emotional stakes. More growth means more heaviness. Says Hale, “nothing gets taken away.” So too with A Tear, which is a massive progression, but not a departure. The end result feels like a stress test: six songs that speak to each other in a language that’s equal parts Phil Spector and death metal and that balance the tension between technical mastery and catchiness. This is Knocked Loose, distilled, and taking a leap.

In the recent history of heavy metal, there have been few emerging bands that have shaken up the scene in the way Alien Weaponry has. Since releasing their acclaimed Napalm Records debut Tū in 2018, the New Zealand band’s kinetic presence and unique sound – combining thrash metal with lyrics in the native indigenous language, te reo Māori — has attracted throngs of fans and media supporters across the globe that have responded to the sheer ruthlessness, untempered passion, and unbelievable noise created by the three-piece. Rising even higher with the release of their second acclaimed album, Tangaroa (2021), the band has amassed millions of streams, video views and success at SiriusXM Liquid Metal, was hailed the “future of metal” by Metal Hammer, and has performed with the likes of Guns N' Roses, Gojira, Slayer and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, the band capped off 2024 with the release of a documentary film, Kua Tupu Te Ara, which premiered at the renowned Tribeca Film Festival. New Zealand modern groove metal trio Alien Weaponry will release their heaviest, most powerful and mature offering to date, Te Rā, on March 28, 2025 via Napalm Records.