Joe Duplantier: Gojira Writing 100 Songs, Next Album Is ‘Going to Be Awesome’
It's been just over two years since we got a new album from Gojira, but according to frontman Joe Duplantier, something fresh is in the works from the French metal act, and he thinks it's going to be awesome!
"We started to write new stuff maybe about a year ago," the singer tells Metal Injection. "Seven months ago we started to jam, especially my brother and I and maybe the other guys too thinking that we’re starting really, really early. By the time we think we’re ready to record we’ll be ready."
He continues, "Turns out we’re going a little deeper in the writing and maybe we’re thinking too much sometimes. We did 20 kind of demos, songs, ideas. I can’t say we have something yet. We’re doing some research and more than before. Usually we write 12 songs and record 12 songs and release 12 songs. Now it looks like we’re going to write 100 songs. It’s a different approach and it’s fun. We have new desires and a new way of doing things. I like to think it’s going to be awesome. I feel it’s going to be really exciting, for us at least. I don’t know what people are going to think."
Gojira's last album, 2016's Magma, was a smash success, receiving rave reviews from critics and fans alike. It also landed the band a highly coveted slot as openers for Metallica on their Worldwired Tour. As for what's next, Duplantier says there may be some very surprising influences that could creep into the sound.
"I want to go back to some of the older influences that we have," he says. "We were now always a death metal band. Before that I was a Dire Straits fan, Michael Jackson. We have that in us and some progressive stuff too. We have all these things and we need to express that somehow, mixed with our own special sauce. We’re working with stuff that sometimes is a bit surprising, even to us. Sometimes it’s like what is this? I don’t know, let it sleep a little bit and go back to it. After this we’re going to go back into the studio and see what’s going on."
There's no set timetable for when we might see the seventh LP from Gojira, but it's good to know they have something cooking in the laboratory, although Duplantier points out, "I’m not a scientist, I’m not a poet, but somewhere in between."
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