Gojira at Irving Plaza

Gojira is an unusual heavy metal band. Formed in 1996 by brothers Joe Duplantier (guitar, vocals) and drummer Mario Duplantier, with guitarist Christian Andreu and bassist Jean-Michel Labadie, the four musicians hail from Ondres, a tranquil village on the southwest coast of France. The rugged coastline and scenic countryside inspired Gojira's interest in nature and the earth. While other heavy metal bands write about blood, guts, nihilism and paganism, Gojira sings of spiritual beliefs and concerns for the environment. The band aims to spread karma and save the whales while blowing out your eardrums! Also unusual in the heavy metal world, the band has had no changes in lineup. The band has recorded five studio albums and produced three live DVDs.

At Irving Plaza tonight, Gojira's concert combined elements of death metal, thrash metal and progressive metal, with unusual rhythm patterns, precision drumming, distorted guitar sounds and growling vocals. The start-and-stop riffs were often complicated and sophisticated, but the melodies formed a bare headbangers groove, without the guitar virtuoso leads of traditional metal. It was primal and simple, but to become a major act, Gojira will have to grow beyond the groove and the growl.