Phases & Stages

Gojira

The third CD from this French quartet comprises the same environmentally minded death metal as 2005's From Mars to Sirius. Tight and heavy and not terribly fast, The Way of All Flesh recalls Cathedral or Entombed in its groovier moments, but, more often, the chromatic, midtempo riffs and heavily syncopated drumming echo Mastodon. Indeed, this is the case with some of the strongest tracks, such as the choppy, lurching "Toxic Garbage Island."For better and worse, Gojira doesn't have the vision of today's best metal; its music is purer, without much tendency to sound commercial, but also without a sense of reinvention. As a result, the album drags at more than an hour, and tracks aiming for a more mainstream aesthetic, notably "A Sight to Behold," are weaker. Barring those, there are 45 minutes of perfectly solid death metal here. (Gojira grinds La Zona Rosa, Saturday, Nov. 29.)