Fan Poll: 5 Best Gojira Songs | Revolver

Fan Poll: 5 Best Gojira Songs

See what beat out "Flying Whales" and "Silvera" for top spot
gojira WILSON 2019 live
Gojira

By the time, they hit the international stage — following the release of 2004's breakthrough album, From Mars to Sirius — Gojira were already a finely honed machine, having grinded it out on the French circuit for nearly a decade. Over the following years, their power has only grown, bolstered by their vitally important and deeply felt environmental message.

With Gojira standing today undisputedly as one of heavy music's leading forces, we asked our readers to pick the band's single greatest song. See the top five vote-getters below.

5. "Silvera"

On 2016's Magma, Gojira pulled back on some of their death-metal extremity in favor of more cleanly sung vocals and melodic forays. But that doesn't mean the album is any less heavy — in fact, the LP's themes, drawn from the death of the Duplantier brothers' mother, were weightier than ever. As for standout cut "Silvera," it lands here mostly because of "THAT fucking riff!," as many of you fans noted when casting your vote for it on social media.

4. "Toxic Garbage Island"

Think Gojira are pissed about what's happening to the planet's oceans? Just listen to this far-beyond-heavy exorcism of unbridled rage and frustration off 2008's The Way of All Flesh. "Cities are burning, the trees are dying/My heart awake, but still," Joe Duplantier bellows above menacing, stuttering riffery. "Pain is killing me." This song kills us, too — but what a way to go.

3. "Flying Whales"

First comes the ghostly sample of a whale song, then the massive riff with that signature Gojira squeal. The epic opening track off From Mars to Sirius announced a force to be reckoned when the album dropped in 2004, and today it stands as one of the band's calling cards, a majestic anthem worthy of its titular beast. Gojira will forever be identified with whales — this song is a big reason why.

2. "L'Enfant Sauvage"

From the 2012 album of the same name — French for "wild child" — this propulsive crusher embodies its title perfectly. The pulsating rhythm only adds to the feeling that Joe Duplantier isn't simply just screaming the lyrics at you, but shoving them down your damn throat. "It killed a part of me that was raging/ The pain is gone, the denial," he roars. "I ran away from institutions/I owe myself life." Then comes the neck-snapping breakdown, which should turn any listener straight-up animalistic.

1. "Heaviest Matter of the Universe"

How the fuck does Mario Duplantier do it? He's a "god-level player," as Code Orange's Jami Morgan, a drummer himself, recently enthused. You voted him one of your favorite drummers in metal in 2020, and this song belongs to the octopus-armed time-keeper. Sure, it kills otherwise — monstrous death-metal growls, fire riffs and a groove designed to destroy — but for four minutes Mario is king. Forget about black holes or periodic elements — Gojira may just be the heaviest matter in the universe.