Band:	Gojira
Album:	The Way Of All Flesh
Style:	Progressive death metal
Release date:	October 2008

01. Oroborus
02. Toxic Garbage Island
03. A Sight To Behold
04. Yama's Messengers
05. The Silver Cord
06. All The Tears
07. Adoration For None
08. The Art Of Dying
09. Esoteric Surgery
10. Vacuity
11. Wolf Down The Earth
12. The Way Of All Flesh

I wrote in my review of The Link that every Gojira album has a certain atmosphere and feel to it; while the progressive groove/death formula remains, the vibe is ever changing. Well, with The Way Of All Flesh, it doesn't take too long to realize what vibe [band]Gojira[/I] are going for: frigid, tundra-like dread. Frontman Joe Duplantier once said in an interview with Total Guitar magazine that the entire album is the band's reflection on the concept of death and its many facets: the taboo of it, the inevitability of it, and the repercussions of it. And considering how doomy and dark much of the record is musically, there's no doubt that this concept had a huge impact on its writing and recording. From the very beginning, the tightly-coiled melodic guitar tapping of "Oroborus" immediately conjures images that suggest both vitality and despair in equal measure, and that's a pattern that continues throughout. But that's not the only tone "Oroborus" sets for the album... it also sets the tone by being an exceptionally high-quality opener for Gojira's best album.

Let me be clear here: as stated in the From Mars To Sirius review, the power and intensity have still not been lost here. "Toxic Garbage Island", "All The Tears", "Adoration For None" (featuring Randy Blythe!), and the title track are all absolute barn-burners that storm through the speakers with Gojira's usual ferocity and punishing brutality. In fact, both Joe and Mario Duplantier sound even angrier and more passionate than ever in their performances, with Mario offering some incredibly hard-hitting and ostentatious fills to match Joe's anguished screams and hellish growls. The atmosphere of the entire record is very oppressive and bleak, and yet somehow each member cuts through the darkness with a shocking level of precision and clarity. More dramatic and melodic tracks like "A Sight To Behold" and album highlight "The Art Of Dying" allow the band to continue expanding their musical dimensions without running too far off course, and the strangely mesmerizing interludes and backmasked outros really serve to deepen the album's sense of both melancholy and mystery. There's also a much stronger element of doom metal contained in this record, most notably through downtrodden songs like "Yama's Messengers", "Wolf Down The Earth", and the anthemic-yet-simplistic "Vacuity."

But I think "complete" is the word of the day here. In every sense, The Way Of All Flesh feels like the most complete Gojira record to me. There's no stone left unturned, no task unaccomplished, and there's absolutely no filler. Even the extended outros I critizicized on From Mars To Sirius have been given more purpose here on the songs they occupy. "The Art Of Dying" in particular has my favorite outro of any Gojira, the melodies really highlighting a sense of defeat that hits especially hard after such an eventful and pummeling first half. The title track is the same way, contrasting the chunky power chords and booming growls of its first half with a gorgeous cleanly-sung outro that perfectly illustrates the album's entire central conceit. The lyrics of this track speak of the willingness to let yourself go and accept that death is inevitable, almost as if Gojira are channeling the "acceptance" stage of grief and giving it their own take. It's worth noting that not every song deals as much with the "death" theme though; "A Sight To Behold" and "Toxic Garbage Island" continue the band's theme of environmental awareness (especially the latter track, as the title undoubtably suggests), and Joe also stated that the landscape of the band's hometown influenced much of the album's content. But it's also worth noting that even the environmental songs still exhibit that same feeling of fear and dread, lending to the cohesion and unity of the entire record.

The Way Of All Flesh is an album that I don't think Gojira could ever possibly top. This is the sound of a band at the absolute peak of their powers in every way; the writing, the musicianship, the atmosphere, the chemistry... all of it is here in full-force, and having such an interesting take on the age-old concept of life and death just makes it even more powerful. Gojira have always thrived on the way they reconcile their emotional weight, sheer power and impressive technicality, and The Way Of All Flesh is the formula finally reaching perfection after over a decade of recorded output. Gojira, congrats on making one of the best albums in all of modern metal, if not metal in general!