Metallurgy

Gojira

Song, the universal tongue, camouflages most accents, but not always that of Joseph Duplantier, this French quartet's monarch. With co-everything/drummer Mario Duplantier and second shredder Christian Andreu, the titular Wild Child produces a tight-knit tonal palette on Gojira's fifth album, the titanic propeller riff of the title track tomahawking back on both "Mouth of Kala" and the melted bends on "The Gift of Guilt." Clean vox dilute the finale, with its hints of fellow Gauls Alcest ("Born in Winter"), but L'Enfant Sauvage, like almost five-hour DVD/CD combo The Flesh Alive, is the merde.