French progressive metallers GOJIRA have unleashed a new track titled “Into The Storm”. It stands out as the fourth song shared from their widely anticipated new album, “Fortitude”, which will be released April 30 via Roadrunner Records. “Into The Storm” is available today on all streaming platforms and is accompanied by a visual.
Vocalist/guitarist Joseph Duplantier elaborated on “Into The Storm”: “This song is infused with the concept of civil disobedience. Acting accordingly with our deepest wisdom and standing for what is precious and good in this world. The only possible revolution is the one that blossoms from within us. Change will come from individuals. Laws are meant to be bent and shaped to our vital needs. LAWS WILL FOLLOW!”
“Into The Storm” arrives in the wake of the band’s recent single “Amazonia” which takes aim at the crisis impacting the Amazon and its indigenous communities. A lush ripper interwoven with indigenous folk instruments and groove-metal rhythms, the soundscapes skew verdant, but the themes prove anything but idyllic. Duplantier surveys the endangered rainforest, concluding: “The greatest miracle/ Is burning to the ground.”
Alongside “Amazonia”, GOJIRA launched a fundraising initiative to benefit the indigenous owned NGO The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) who advocate for environmental and cultural rights of indigenous tribes in the Amazon who have suffered immensely — victims of land loss, forced labor and poverty. “We don’t want to just release a song called ‘Amazonia’—we want to do something on top of that,” Duplantier explains. “We feel a responsibility as artists to offer a way for people to take action.”
Working with the social good-focused digital platform Propeller, GOJIRA is curating a month-long charitable campaign featuring an auction of one-of-a-kind items from the band and their friends, as well as a raffle were fans can donate to be entered for a chance to win a hand customized signature Duplantier guitar. Having already raised over $120,000 to date, each week new pieces of memorabilia are added to the auction with recent items including: a snare drum from the DEFTONES’ Abe Cunningham used in the recording of the band’s debut album “Adrenaline”, a painting from SLIPKNOT’s Jay Weinberg, an autographed bass used by Justin Chancellor from TOOL, a signed book from METALLICA’s Kirk Hammett and more.
“Into The Storm” and “Amazonia” follow the album’s lead single, “Born For One Thing”, which arrived in February accompanied by a Charles De Meyer-directed official music video shot in France and Belgium. All three tracks are available as instant rat downloads with pre-orders of “Fortitude”, GOJIRA’s first album in five years and the follow-up to 2016’s Grammy-nominated LP “Magma”.
Recorded and produced by Joseph Duplantier at Silver Cord Studio — GOJIRA’s Ridgewood, Queens, headquarters — and mixed by Andy Wallace (NIRVANA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE), “Fortitude” is a collection of songs urging humanity to imagine a new world — and then make it happen. The band initially laid the foundation for “Fortitude” last year with the surprise release of the 2020 single “Another World”. NPR hailed the track as “an apocalyptic banger,” and Stereogum declared, “GOJIRA are one of this century’s most important underground metal institutions,” while “Fortitude” was voted by fans as the #1 release on Revolver’s “Most Anticipated Albums of 2021.”
GOJIRA’s widely anticipated tour dates supporting DEFTONES have been rescheduled for 2021.
Photo credit: Gabrielle Duplantier