Tonight the iconic venue the KOKO is crammed with a hungry mob ready to taste the wonders of France. However there will be no croissants, no frog’s legs and certainly no snails, for instead this three course meal will ooze with groove and riffs that only the heaviest of palettes could endure.
The first entre comes from self-acclaimed “boogie death metallers” Trepalium who keep to their word with riffs as groovy as a Pantera-Gojira lovechild. Cédric Punda is a dreadlocked dominator whose vocals fill the room with a dense brutality whilst showcasing tracks from latest album ‘H.N.P’ and certainly warms up the crowd for what is yet to come. Hopefully this tour will help Trepalium get the credit they deserve.
Klone may have a similar bottom layer to their sound, with yet more progressive guitar work and breakdowns galore, but enigmatic frontman Yann Linger’s vocal range puts them worlds apart. With haunting Keenan-like cleans blended with deathly snarls, it is this that stops the Frenchmen from becoming, ahem, clones of the metal world. Unfortunately tonight the extreme volume of the bass and guitars overshadows the unique sampling and sax playing of Matthieu Metzger; however one can only imagine this adds yet another dimension to this already very technical tirade of music.
As the main course is about to be served, the lights are dimmed and its apparent the stage production is much bigger than a few months prior when Gojira came to visit. The iconic head artwork from this year’s belter ‘L’Enfant Sauvage’ glistens behind Mario’s equally beautiful kit, as Joe Duplantier kicks off the night with ‘Explosia’. The set list tonight is flawless with examples from each album, be it ‘Wisdom Comes’ from ‘The Link’, ‘Clone’ representing ‘Terra Incognita’ or favourite ‘Flying Whales’ of ‘From Mars to Sirius’ – every song is played by the quartet with precision and an organic aggression rarely found in bands today. Fifteen years on and the Duplantier brothers are still able to be silly with each other, as they swap roles for a quick jam, before Mario returns back behind the kit for a solo of what he does best. ‘The Art of Dying’ and ‘Ouroborous’ embrace Gojira’s darker side with guitars that swirl and squeal as crowdsurfers float in ecstasy. Newbie ‘The Gift of Guilt’ proves to be an epic encore and despite this being Gojira’s 669th show (not that we’re counting), the band have no intention of slowing down yet. Très fucking bien.
Review by Lily Randall
Photo from Google.
To be Published in Devolution Magazine
Tomb With A View 
this is just such shit XD
Care to ellaborate?
okay:
1. KOKO isn’t iconic, you just keep saying that about venues in Camden
2. “However there will be no croissants, no frog’s legs and certainly no snails”
Seriously? French people everywhere now think you’re awesome. Plus it doesn’t lead up to the “three course meal” analogy very well.
3. “Cédric Punda is a dreadlocked dominator whose vocals fill the room with a dense brutality” – What does this mean? A dense brutality? What is that? What is it, even, to be a “dreadlocked dominator”? This is just muso hack nonsense. If you’re going to write good reviews, say something that has actual meaning, actual depth.
4. “As the main course is about to be served, the lights are dimmed and its apparent the stage production is much bigger than a few months prior when Gojira came to visit.”
How is it apparent the production is bigger? Because the lights are dimmed? Because that’s what you’ve written. It’s obviously not the case, but to put it together in this is clumsy and lazy.
5. “The iconic head artwork from this year’s belter ‘L’Enfant Sauvage’ glistens behind Mario’s equally beautiful kit, ” – Equal in beauty to what? You haven’t given it another object to be equal to.
I would go on, but I got bored of reading!
I’m glad you bothered to write something constructive but I am very much intrigued as to who you are, I’m not going to take offence and if you are someone who is in fact a journalist then I will definitely take what you say on board. On the other hand if you are just a fan, I’m also interested so please feel free to not be a coward.
-Regarding the iconic thing. The Roundhouse is definitely iconic, it has had so many big names play there in the past and its an architectural masterpiece. Admittedly, the KOKO may not be as historically well known but it is a lovely venue. I can’t really comment outside of London as I only go to gigs there.
– I dont think this is particularly offensive, its a humourous stereotype and everyone has their own style of writing, I like to keep mine vaguely lighthearted.
-I like alliteration and I don’t think there is anything wrong with some visual information?
– I dont see how this doesn’t make sense, I haven’t actually linked the two things together, and the production is bigger compared to before, but I didn’t want to go on about that too much because if you didn’t go to the gig before what’s the point?
-the kit is as beautiful as the artwork, surely that’s pretty explanatory?
Anyway I don’t mind your comments but all writers work differently. Its hard to write something that hasn’t already been written before.
And I do not claim to be a professional. I write for the two magazines and the one webzine for free and am giving all the opportunity by them. I haven’t had any complaints from my editors, despite always needing confirmation that what I have written is okay, so I apologise that you do not like my work.
also, elaborate. one L. i might typo, but i don’t claim to be a professional XD