From the perspective of your average, casual music fan – think the suburban mum sees P!nk as the pinnacle of rock music, or the stocktrading suit who swears songwriting peaked with The Beatles – metalheads are the human embodiment of recklessness and depravity. But look past the gory and gristly aesthetics and you’ll find one of the friendliest, most sympathetic and benevolent communities on the planet. Wherever tragedy strikes, you can be sure to find at least one long-haired brute in a ragged Metallica shirt ready to help out.
Notably so in recent years, progressive activism has become a cornerstone of the heavy music scene. Case in point: French groove-metallers Gojira, who’ve long championed environmental causes with their equally emotive and explosive shreddery. Their seventh album, , looks to mobilise moshfiends around the world to fight for their freedoms, uphold equality and make their voices heard to secure a future for their planet. It’s a notably optimistic record for the band, too, adding to their standard fare of cataclysmic riffs and punishing breakdowns a summery slant of melodic buoyancy.
