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L'ENFANT SAUVAGE

Gojira

Tech/Extreme Prog Metal


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Gojira L'Enfant Sauvage album cover
3.86 | 144 ratings | 7 reviews | 24% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 2012

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Explosia (6:39)
2. L'enfant sauvage (4:17)
3. The Axe (4:34)
4. Liquid Fire (4:17)
5. The Wild Healer (1:48)
6. Planned Obsolescence (4:39)
7. Mouth of Kala (5:51)
8. The Gift of Guilt (5:56)
9. Pain Is a Master (5:07)
10. Born in Winter (3:51)
11. The Fall (5:25)

Total Time 52:24

Bonus tracks on 2012 SE:
12. This Emptiness (3:59)
13. My Last Creation (4:09)

Bonus DVD from 2012 SE - Live at Eurockeenes 2009:
1. Oroborus (5:31)
2. The Heaviest Matter of the Universe (4:25)
3. Backbone (4:17)
4. Love (4:22)
5. A Sight to Behold (5:33)
6. The Art of Dying (8:18)
7. Drum Solo (2:25)
8. Clone (5:53)
9. Flying Whales (6:11)
10. Toxic Garbage Island (5:31)
11. Vacuity (6:14)

Total Time 58:40

Line-up / Musicians

- Joseph Duplantier / vocals, guitar, co-producer
- Christian Andreu / guitar
- Jean-Michel Labadie / bass
- Mario Duplantier / drums

Releases information

Artwork: Joseph Duplantier

CD Roadrunner Records ‎- RR7651-2 (2012, Europe)
CD + DVD Roadrunner Records ‎- RR7651-5 (2012, Europe) Includes DVD-Video directed by Yoann Belton plus two bonus tracks

2LP Roadrunner Records ‎- RRCAR 7651-1 (2012, Germany)

Thanks to sleeper for the addition
and to projeKct for the last updates
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GOJIRA L'Enfant Sauvage ratings distribution


3.86
(144 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(24%)
24%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(46%)
46%
Good, but non-essential (20%)
20%
Collectors/fans only (8%)
8%
Poor. Only for completionists (2%)
2%

GOJIRA L'Enfant Sauvage reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by UMUR
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars "L'Enfant Sauvage" is the 5th full-length studio album by French metal act Gojira. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in June 2012. Gojira have experienced a constantly rising popularity curve since the release of "From Mars to Sirius (2005)". "The Way of All Flesh (2008)" only cemented their position as one of the leading hybrid death/thrash metal acts and they've toured extensively in the wake of that album, which has further helped gain them popularity and a reputation as one of the tightest playing live acts out there.

...while some artist opt to release a new album each year or maybe every second year, Gojira are not as productive, but listening to "L'Enfant Sauvage" it's pretty obvious why that is. These guys are perfectionists. Not only have they honed they technical skills but they have also spend valuable time on songwriting details that ultimately makes "L'Enfant Sauvage" another very strong release by the band.

The music on the album pretty much continue down the same progressive hybrid death/thrash path as they've travelled for a couple of albums now. Sharp precision drumming, heavy rythmic groove based riffs, atmospheric sections (which often remind me of Killing Joke and their melancholic sound) and those trademark semi- growling/raw yet strangely melodic vocals by lead vocalist/guitarist Joe Duplantier. He probably has one of the most characteristic extreme metal vocal styles on the scene today. That mix of rawness and melodic sensitivity is rare. I'm thinking of a vocalist like Phil Anselmo in his prime. Not that Joe Duplantier sounds like Anselmo, but his vocal style features some of the same raw/melodic qualities as the former Pantera vocalist also did/does. In addition to his raw vocal delivery, Joe Duplantier's vocals are often doubled with more melodic sounding vocals. I'm not sure if it's vocoder created vocals, but there is a robotic quality to them.

The 11 track, 52:25 minutes long album features quality tracks throughout, but tracks like "Exlosia", "L'Enfant Sauvage", "Liquid Fire", "Pain is a Master" and "Born in Winter" (where Duplantier tries his hand at singing clean vocals and comes away pretty successful), stand out to me.

"L'Enfant Sauvage" not only features excellent musicianship and quality songwriting, but also features a strong, clear and powerful sound production to boot. All in all "L'Enfant Sauvage" is a very strong release by Gojira and a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

Review by EatThatPhonebook
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars 7/10

A Fun and Heavy Record, But There's Some Deja Vu.

'L'Enfant Sauvage' is the fifth studio album by French Progressive Death Metal band Gojira, released in 2012. Their previous work has already made a great impact in the metal community, for their catchy, heavy and groovy rhythms executed with excellent musicianship and songwriting, seen especially in their sophomore release, the 2005 'From Mars To Sirius', which incorporated a sludgy and primitive production that made the music sound so visceral and earthy. 2008's 'The Way Of All Flesh' had a much cleaner production, which gave the sound a greater Progressive Metal feel. 'L'Enfant Sauvage' unfortunately feels no different from its predecessor. Same production, same kind of grooves, same kind of occasional experimentation. But the reason why this is not necessarily bothersome is because, well, it's a formula that works.

Songwriting wise, the band has stepped down a tiny bit, because some of these songs simply don't have the kick they should, for not being that memorable. Others however, such as the fierce and potent intro 'Explosia', 'Pain Is the Master' or 'the Gift Of Guilt' give us some of the best musicianship in 2012 Metal, without abandoning those catchy riffs the band are popular for. 'Born In Winter' gives a nice touch of variation to the whole picture, and 'The Fall' gives a strong ending to the album. The second part of the LP does in fact gain a whole lot of momentum in comparison to the first half; almost all of the tracks shine, while in the first part you'll find good riffs here and there, but never anything that will particularly impress your memory.

It's unfortunate that Gojira didn't step out of their comfort zone on this one: 'L'Enfant Sauvage' however ends up being a guilty pleasure, but in a completely different sense than what usually the meaning of the term is: this is a very good record nevertheless, that has much more ups than downs, because of the groovy rhythms that are always present, even though perhaps the songwriting is toned down; it's a good listen, despite the static state in which Gojira seem to be stuck in.

Review by Necrotica
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Colaborator
4 stars L'Enfant Sauvage might be the first time in Gojira's career in which they didn't really display any forward momentum, at least in regards to furthering and experimenting with their sound. It essentially plays out like a smorgasbord of their previous works, while also acting as a stylistic safety net after the technical musicianship and general darkness of The Way of All Flesh. The songs here are more concise, less expansive, and more conventionally written than in prior records. Is any of this a bad thing? Not necessarily. If anything, the album will be refreshing for new fans who are trying to get into this group's otherwise uncompromising body of work; at a much leaner 52 minutes (lean for Gojira, of course), it's also a nice entry point from a length standpoint as well. The album serves as a nice summary of the band's pre-Magma career? not stuffed to the brim with peaks, but not bogged down with many valleys either.

One listen to the opening cut "Explosia" and you know what L'Enfant Sauvage is going to be all about. Thick mechanical grooves, the group's signature pick-scrape technique, and a long melodic outro are what await you; they all fit nicely and lead to that certain blend of aggression and catharsis that Gojira excel at creating. Other songs that fall neatly into that category include the fantastic "The Gift of Guilt" and late-album highlight "Born in Winter". The former is quite close stylistically to The Way of All Flesh as it channels a lot of the same doomy vibes and foreboding melodies, and the result is a beautiful piece that's equal parts turbulent and poetic. The latter, meanwhile, might be one of the most experimental songs Gojira had done up to this point. The entire track is built around a framework of harmonically complex tapping and a soft ambiance, both of which make the eventual climax even more powerful than it otherwise would have been.

The members themselves are still going strong here in terms of both technical ability and chemistry. As per usual, Mario Duplantier remains the most impressive player in the group as he continues to experiment with interesting patterns and out-of-the-box ideas. Nothing he does on L'Enfant Sauvage is as ridiculous as the 45/16-time insanity he pulls on "The Art of Dying" off the previous album, but there are still some pretty cool moments here. Check out the amazing crescendoing bass rolls he does during the climax of "Explosia", or the crazy tempo changes that constantly keep "Planned Obsolescence" interesting. Joe Duplantier and Christian Andreu remain a tight unit on the guitar front as well, never really showing off but always serving the tight grooves nicely with their precise and heavy-as-hell riffs. The only person who gets a slightly raw deal here is Jean-Michel Labadie, whose bass playing is much less noticeable than on previous albums. It's not that he disappeared entirely, but I don't think it helps when the production is drowning him out a bit this time around.

The one element that drags this record below its immediate predecessors, however, lies in the songs that are just kinda? "there". To put it plainly, there are a handful of tracks here that don't elicit much of a reaction, the biggest examples being the title track and "The Axe". The former really doesn't deserve to bear the name of the album, as it just chugs along in a dull fashion with one-note riffs and a really boring bridge section. Joe sounds great vocally, but the music itself drags him down with its lack of creativity. "The Axe", however, doesn't go anywhere meaningful at all. The intense double bass-driven intro is promising, but it soon gets dragged into the mire of slow chugs and uninspired vocal passages. And unfortunately, it just stays at a slow burn without ever using any tonal or dynamic shifts to keep things interesting. It's a shame that these two songs are placed back-to-back, as it ruins the flow after such a powerful opener like "Explosia". And as I stated prior, the overarching sense of safety, while making the record consistent, also makes it duller than the band's previous outings. The feeling of "been there, done that" is pretty strong when listening to it.

Again, that still doesn't make it bad in the slightest. L'Enfant Sauvage is still a stellar record for the most part; it just needed a bit more adventurousness and diversity to spice it up a bit. Considering the two albums that followed, I think it's safe to say that this was a bit of a transitional album of sorts. It serves as the bridge between the group's more intense, technical offerings like From Mars to Sirius and the simpler, sparser arrangements of Magma and Fortitude; it's also arguably the band's most consistent album, which has to count for something. So at the end of the day, L'Enfant Sauvage is still an excellent piece of work and a great gateway album for people who are still on the fence about diving into Gojira's music for the first time. Trust me, it's worth it.

Latest members reviews

4 stars Members familiar with this French band will know that they play Progressive Death Metal with a heavy emphasis on Thrash. Their last studio album, 2012's L'Enfant Sauvage, is as good as it's predecessor, 2008's The Way of All Flesh. The big jump in the quality of the band's music from 2005's ... (read more)

Report this review (#1340807) | Posted by SteveG | Monday, January 5, 2015 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Gojira "L'enfant Sauvage" 7.5/10 Lets get right to it. This album was released a decently long four years from their previous release back in 2008 titled "The Way Of All Flesh", which is brought about because of a few things, one of which a label change. Gojira is more than happy to be r ... (read more)

Report this review (#849838) | Posted by IcedPorcupine | Saturday, November 3, 2012 | Review Permanlink

4 stars 4.5 stars. Gojira. Just the mention of the band's name will cause a plethora of scattered opinions ranging from adoration to disgust, as rarely does there come a band as polarizing. With the previous four records, it was clear that Gojira's sound wasn't exactly bound to change, to many peop ... (read more)

Report this review (#810301) | Posted by Illmatic0000 | Saturday, August 25, 2012 | Review Permanlink

3 stars Gojira have been one of my favourite bands in the past few years. When I first bought From Mars To Sirius, it became one of my all time favourite albums. Such a powerfull album and it literaly was the most unique metal album I had ever heard. It literally sounded like it came from outer space. Th ... (read more)

Report this review (#778208) | Posted by arcane-beautiful | Wednesday, June 27, 2012 | Review Permanlink

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