LIVE REVIEW: Gojira, Klone, Trepalium, London Koko

//LIVE REVIEW: Gojira, Klone, Trepalium, London Koko

Gojira London Koko live review

Gojira, Klone and Trepalium 

11/11/12 Koko – London 

Words and photos – Antony Roberts

 

Remembrance Sunday and what better way to spend it than with our allies the French, and one of their finest exports in the form of Goijira backed up by fellow country men Klone and Trepalium.    

First support band Trepalium sounded like they are from the 90’s and never moved forward.  I’m not saying old school is a bad thing, heck give me some early 90’s sounding death metal and i’m a happy man, but this was not Swedish Death Metal, it was groove metal.  Even if they were not my cup of tea, the audience lapped them up, and they certainly put on an energetic live show.  Singer KK  bounced around the stage dreads a flailing barking out lyrics whilst the guitarists flipped genre’s like they were going out of fashion.  They tore stompy groove laden hooks into jazz interludes, mixing in little elements of funk and beyond, there were riffs that I swear could have been taken straight from the “Pornograffiti” era Nuno Bettencourt school of guitar and brutalised through a distortion pedal.   Heavy, happy, and bouncy but not my thing.

Trepalium London Koko live review

Trepalium London Koko live review

Trepalium London Koko live review

Trepalium London Koko live review

 

Klone came up next and didn’t fair much better for me.  The vocals were very Alice In chains-esque with a backing of Tool like guitars but without the depth of either band.  Finishing with a cover of Bjork’s “Army of Me” I don’t understand why bands cover stunning, original tracks unless they are really going to make it own.  It failed in my eyes coming across like an almost nu metal version reminiscent of the days of Korn.   

Klone London Koko live review

Klone London Koko live review

Klone London Koko live review

Klone London Koko live review

Klone London Koko live review

 

Gojira open with Explosia, title track from this year’s stunning album “L’enfant Sauvage”.  We weren’t allowed to shoot the first song and so I had the pleasure of being sat in the photo pit for a front row seat to lap it up in all it’s glory.  It may have taken 4 years to follow up “The Way Of All Flesh” but the band have been touring a lot during the gap, and their live show has gone from great to stunning.  I don’t think i’ve seen a tighter band live this year, and the sound was absolutely amazing, actually no strike that, it was phenomenal.  Everything was crystal clear, every cymbal crash ringing out, every muted guitar note crushing my ears. 

Not forgetting their underground breakthrough album they followed on with “Flying Whales”, “Backbone” and “The Heaviest Matter In The Universe” from “Mars To Sirius”.  Following a set spanning all their albums it is perhaps testament to the sheer strength of the new album that Gojira encore with “The Gift Of Guilt”. 

Gojira have managed to go way beyond the often clinical and formulaic song writing that often ruins (for me) so many bands within the prog/tech metal scene, and do something that whilst technical, sounds tight and powerful, and acheive songs that make you actually want to bang your head, hard.  Their live show now is an extension of this, managing to satisfy the muso’s with their precision musicianship, whilst crushing the rest of the audience with a sheer unrelenting technical pounding that urges you to just dive into the pit.  

SETLIST:

Explosia

Flying Whales

Backbone

The Heaviest Matter In The Universe

L’Enfant Sauvige

The Arc

Toxic Garbage Island

Wisdom Comes

Oroborus

Solo Dieu (Mario drum solo)

The Axe

Vacuity

 

The Gift Of Guilt


Gojira play the UK in March 2013 with Ghost and The Defiled, tickets priced at just £5.00 are on sale now.


Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

Gojira live review London Koko

By |2012-12-03T00:00:00+00:00December 3rd, 2012|Gig Reviews|0 Comments

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