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Ben conscio dell'esistenza di una precedente recensione dell'album in oggetto, mi appresto a dare una spiegazione di tale doppione.
In primo luogo per ravvivare l'attenzione del popolo DeBaseriano sui francesi Gojira, visto che l'ultimo studio album risale ormai al 2008 e che il lavoro recensito in questa pagina addirittura a cinque anni orsono, motivando ciò con il grandissimo spessore artistico che, a mio pesonale parere, i transalpini sanno profondere nelle loro composizioni.
Secondariamente perchè leggendo la precedente recensione di "From Mars to Syrius" mi era sembrato di cogliere, sopratutto proveniente dai commenti di alcuni utenti DeBaseriani, una certa insoddisfazione nella descrizione delle componente musicale. Speriamo di essere in grado, in questa pagina, di colmare qualche lacuna se mai ce ne sono state, premettendo comunque che i concetti espressi da Hibrys sono da me largamente condivisi.
Ok bando alle ciance.....
Come già accennato, "From Mars to Syrius" viene dato alle stampe dalla Listenable Records il 27 Settembre del 2005 e segna un notevolissimo salto qualitativo rispetto al già piacevole predecessore "The Link".
Diamo a Cesare ciò che è di Cesare, siamo al cospetto di un capolavoro di furiosa muscolarità, di distorta passione e di asimmetria ritmica/compositiva e sinceramente non ho trovato altro sostantivo migliore per definire la proposta dei nostri: ecco, leggendo sul web alcune reviews e post, mi sono imbatutto nel termine "Whalecore" e davvero, tenendo in considerazione le tematiche fortemente ambientaliste delle lyrics (sempre qualitativamente elevate e mai banali o pedissique) e la pesantezza gravitazionale che i transalpini sanno imprimere alle lore songs, non credo che si possa descrivere meglio in una sola parola questa entità musicale così particolare.
L'album in sé è davvero ostico, di lunghissima durata (circa 1 ora e dieci minuti, che per questo genere di proposta è un'abisso), pesante e possente all'inverosimile, si ha la netta sensazione di essere schiacciati a terra da un forza centripeta inarrestabile, dattata dalla generale lentezza media dei pezzi che solo a sprazzi vengono lasciati liberi di esprimersi in progressioni grindcore (vedasi "Backbone") davvero poderose e devastanti. Melodie chitarristiche dissonanti (quardando i tabulati di chiatarra non si vede un semplice power chord neanche a pagarlo), ad opera del duo Joe Duplantier/Andreu, sorreggono una struttura musicale impreziosita e profondamente segnata dal drumming di Mario Duplantier, finemente sincopato ed elaborato, precisissimo e chirurgico anche nelle migliaia di variazioni presenti, il tutto corroborato dalla voce dello stesso Joe Duplantier di chiaro stampo scream/death ma assolutamente personale e riconoscibile nonchè intellegibile, nella quale la passione e il trasporto per le liriche espresse si può tranquillamente udire tanto è il pathos profuso. Le linee di basso eseguite da Michel Labadie (dal suono bello distorto ma assolutamente distinguibile) hanno il fondamentale ruolo di raccordare e facilitare le dissonanze chitarristiche per rendere maggiormente fruibile il prodotto finale all'ascoltatore (come nella parte terminale della devastante e pesantissima opener "Ocean Planet", un diamante grezzo), insomma danno un punto di riferimento a chi si appresta per la prima volta ad affrontare il mondo Gojira.
A questo punto qualche d'uno di coloro che si sono gentilmente imbattutti in questa recensione si staranno chiedendo a quali riferimenti artistici fanno capo questi devastanti francesi... Beh non è così semplice: innanzitutto siamo in presenza di un gruppo dalla forte personalità autoctona, ma se dobbiamo dare un'idea, per quanto approssimativa, ad un neofita allora possiamo definirli come una mistura assai originale che prende linfa da ingredienti primari come i Fear Factory (ma solo quelli di "Soul of ....."), da alcune cose dei Godflesh di "Pure", dai Neurosis/Isis (per i secondi direi da "Ocean"), da alcuni riverberi dei Meshuggah (più nella cervelloticità delle strutture che nella tipologia ed esecuzione del riffing) e da una base classicamente death (direi i Morbid Angel da "Domination" in avanti). Shekerare con forza e servire caldo... come il magma...
Vi è da far notare come i nostri siano in grado anche di mitigare notevolmente le loro combattive velleità artistiche inserendo strategicamente songs come la strumentale "Unicorn" (segnata da una ripetitiva ma delicata e sognante successione di armonici), la vagamente seventies "World to Come" (arpeggio di base da urlo, semplice ma estremamente efficace), la cangiante "Flying Waves" che di primo acchito ammalia l'ascoltatore ancora con arpeggi di chitarra soffusi ma ficcanti (sormontati da un sample di canti di balene) per poi trasformarsi in una rocciosissima song piena di dissonanze armonizzate, nonchè la semi tittle track "From Mars" (in questo caso l'arpeggio è eseguito dal basso con clean vocals sussurranti a condurre le danze). Tali brani hanno la facoltà di allentare un pò la pressione esercitata da brani furiosi e muscolari quali "From the Sky" (direi la song più classicamente death dell'album), "The Heaviest Matter of the Universe" (e il titolo dice già tutto sulla sua reale pesantezza musicale) o dalle già citate "Ocean Planet" (davvero azzeccata la scelta come opener dell'album) e "Backbone". In ultima analisi si possono anche scorgere i semi di quello che avverrà con il seccessivo capitolo discografico dei nostri, vale a dire "The Way of All Flesh" (mio personale album dell'anno 2008), nella conclusiva "Global Warming" contraddistinta da un uso prolungato della tecnica di tapping come ritmica di base della song stessa (cosa che possiamo riscontrare nel loro ultimo lavoro in song quali "Oroborus" e "A Sight to Behold") oltre che da una maggiore quantità di clean vocals rispetto al solito.
In definitiva un meraviglioso album dissonante, assolutamente consigliato per la propria discoteca se si ama la sperimentazione applicata all'estremismo metal: questo è il futuro. Ed è terrificante.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Ocean Planet (05:32)
I'm in a mental cage,
I'm locked up
Imprisoned I live,
Deathlike, sickening
Strong is your hold
On my resignation
I don't see the stars,
My memories are veiled
In fluid dreams
I fall I'm restless
Walls made of stone
Are turned into water now
Enlightened demons
Are taking me by the hand
Approaching me,
This great eye speaking
Mountainous waves
Are breaking on my despair
Awaken me but I'm still dreaming
And I just plunge
Into this sea of light
Set open the doors of soul
I'm living
Lightning struck me
I see the path I was so scared of
And fly to the stars
Conviction now increasing at last
My skin is broken
I see the smallest part of me
My mind is alive
But I'll never bow to this again
Why do they call me there
How can I fly to
All this water
I don't feel like
I could ever swim to them
Whales in the sky
I feel they're so close
Inside, and yet so far away
Burst into tears, I feel sad
My dreams aflame
The force is now away
Lie on a stone,
Drop this load and try to see
The ocean planet is in pain
02 Backbone (04:18)
Indestructible
On this rock I lie
But I'm alive for good
And I just free myself now
From all what was wrong
Break the unbreakable
All the stars
Fearlessly bright
They call me out there
Order me to face the wind
My structure's alive,
My body's on the way
Don't bow down
Before the walls
Of fear and madness
They try to counter me
And drag me down
To the ground again
Inexhaustible
The strength of fire
Is running through me
Spine like beam of light
What mortal could ever
Break this force
Unconstrained
I see at last
My backbone straighten
Thy serpent made of bones
Finally rise up
From the ground awaken
Beat your feet
On the ground now, go!
03 From the Sky (05:48)
From The Sky
At the very first sound
There was just light
And then, a storm
Of time and space
Just came and struck
Created our time
In water life
We understand
It just only began
Forced to look to the sky
And wonder why
We cannot face the fact that
We're all scared now
Of mysteries of life
There is a mask that soon will fall
Before the strong embrace
Of love and might
Of light in the dark
I go for the quest
I have to give myself the answer
Enter now this place in the wild
I can see the glade
My feeling now is growing bigger
From the sky
I do feel like no one can save me
I am so alone and yet I cried
I called for help, forsaken
But now I know
The only way is to
Understand the living
Obey the rule of light
And face the fear
Inside out!
Lost, I found there a stone
Erected in line
With one of the brightest stars
Of all the night sky vault
And I took my time
Took off the moss
Washed away the dust
And gave a new lease of life
Its' mystical force
I grab it now
And praise this lord
Of earth and stone
Make passage for souls awaken
So it returns
To where it's always been
With the gods
Now coming, I feel the love
It comes from on high
I know the words
But now I fell it inside
It grows, it's there
And all it comes from the sky
05 Where Dragons Dwell (06:54)
A deep voice is rising
From the heart of the mountain
Vibrations of the stone
I can hear in my heart
The call of instinct
The flight of the powerful
I hunger for it
It just keeps me alive
I met the dragon
In a cave by the mountain
Now I bring the evidence
The beast is alive
This ageless army
Will strike in the morning
And then a star will rise
And shine in the sky
But I grow impatient
Cannot stand the wait
And I start to dig
Within me
This tunnel to I
In this region of me
A great dragon is lying
On the wealth of a mighty world
My own world inside
I saw
I saw monsters
And I
And I started to dig within
When I
When I turn my back on them
They devour me
In this region of me
A dragon is lying there
Awake
Monster
Monsters kings
Do not scorn them
But do not fear them
Muster
Muster thy army
Dragons are the myth alive
In the heart of men
06 The Heaviest Matter of the Universe (03:57)
Lay down fall away
Lie awake
Just cannot move
My arms and legs
I'm paralyzed
Don't recall how to free
Myself from this
In the heart of the dark
My face contorted
Don't know how to reach the light
But I feel so bad
Like a freak in a cage
Open the door
Enter your heart
You go so far
Golden unworldly silence
Space flight at speed of light
I cross the clouds and colors
The black hole is calling me
I slide on the horizon
On the frontier not to cross
Black dwarf
Time's gone distorted
In the heart of the dark
A whirl of light
Enter in
The realm of nothingness
I feel the cold, my eyes are shut
My fear is slowly dying
Light years from here
Are my thoughts and cages
I can hear their moan
But now a long deep breath
Is calling
Overtaking time
And now understanding space
I feel united
I do cross light
Feel the living
Here in the center
Stands the light of love
That never can be touched
From greater silence
Shall return
07 Flying Whales (07:44)
Waters of chaos
have invaded all space
The flood on Earth again
I have to find the whales
that once did guide us
to dry lands of life
I won't despair
I'll break this dark around
Under the heavy sea
I'll search (for) the flight of whales
Beneath the seas I searched
And had a different view
Of us on earth
The sinking ship of men
But it's beyond the stars
I found the place
Where they were
And they finally came to light
Over the winds
They dwell in light
Like the arrow in the sky
I found myself on higher grounds
From up here
For I see them in flight
Now I can see the whales
Looming out of the dark
Like arrows in the sky
I can't believe my eyes
But it's true
Huge tunnel ends in light
Like banks of clouds they gather
See massive shape of flesh
Swimming giants in the clear
The mightiest comes to me
I'm on the wing, wide open
They teach me how to fly
Slowly moving in the air
They dance
So much told with no words at all
Powerful presence for only speech
Breathe
Over the winds
They dwell in light
Fly
08 In the Wilderness (07:47)
On my way
To the vision-come-true
I enter a galaxy rising
And I land on this
Brown and green old place
Whose wild is giant trees
Trees so strong
That they never can fall
Four suns alight
In silver grey sky
Wild river flows
With rage alive
Lions of fire approach me
Carved by the wind
And the fall of water
From the treetops
I can see the end of a time
Living respectful
Low your axe
And learn from the trees
Second dawn
Meet the sylvanlings
Passageways into the deep
Invitations to explore the forest
Lions gales and chambers
A tree trunk
Larger than a mountain
Stands on the top
Of this hill
Made of rock and mist
Living respectful
Low your axe
And learn from the trees
Henceforth
I will be always there
Planet earth will overcome
Men destroyed
Scorned and killed their lives
But the world is on her way
10 From Mars (02:24)
I just looked myself
Straight in the eyes and saw
That I had to move
To higher places
So I took my courage
In both hands and
I pushed off the ground
With all my might
Took off from the red place
In the sky I fly
I have lost my reason
And I've made my sense
From up there I will see
Where I'm from
And where the force of love
Will tell me now to go
But why do you say
That you are lost
If you don't even try
To find yourself
My words are a stairs
I put my feet on
And I climb through
A starless night to my place
11 To Sirius (05:37)
Now from a solar system
To another I fly
I come with life in my veins
Through darkened space I ran
I left a struggle behind
And faced the fear that's alive
I lost a world and traveled
Straight across from the sky
To find the gates of the heart
I come to sirius c
To learn from you friends of old
And wish to come into being
And behold I'm with you
I am ready now to go
The distance and even beyond
Recover all my forces
All the strength of the world
And feel the light into me
From the strenght of god
We go to the power of goddess
This place is a throne
For brightness
The age of war is over
For god's sake
They have never heard of you
"You'll never reach
This master race"
Our force sickening
Killing all the time
Human laws
Already slayed many lives
There was a streak of madness
But now I know
I see its now the only truth
The scars in me are opened
Won't you please call me beyond
Crave affection love and courage
Being courageous
And flying instead of
Falling down
Follow these instructions
I've been given
In this dream awake
There is no goal to reach now
Leviathans
No complaint at all
Dolphins from upper space
Are in front of me
In present they dwell
This is my way
I've found my home
My state of real
There is no goal to reach
This is my way
12 Global Warming (07:50)
Four hundred thousend years ago
They came from outer space
And gave us life here
We are taking everything for granted
I don't think we should do this now
And when I see the smoke all around
I feel like I'm now
From humankind down there
I feel like glaciers are my eyes
And mountains are my head
My heart is ocean
And I feel all alone
Because everybody's wrong
I feel the living
What is this thing that we call hate
And that's inside of me
Get out of here!
A world is down
And none can rebuild it
Disabled lands are evolving
My eyes are shut, a vision is dying
My head explodes
And I fall in disgrace
I hold my inner child within
And tell him not to cry
"don't fear the living"
One day you will stand as a king
And now fear can erase
This light below us
Each one of us is now engaged
This secret we all have
This truth is growing
And as a warrior I have to fight
I can already feel
The love I'll discover
I had this dream, our planet surviving
The guiding stars always growing
And all the worlds
The fates all the countries
They're all rebuilding at the same time
I never fell and always believed in
We could evolve and get older
Open your eyes and let all this flow
Now see a now hope is growing inside
We will see our children growing
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di Hybris
Questi Gojira prendono un'altra strada: il death metal lo appesantiscono e lo lacerano distendendo le strutture iper-riffate e massicce.
Questo cd, in una parola, è bello. È forte, grosso, rabbioso, melodico, accelera, rallenta, si sofferma, avanza, progredisce.
