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From Mars to Sirius

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From Mars to Sirius
Studio album by
Gojira
Released27 September 2005 (2005-09-27)
Studio
Genre
Length66:52
LabelListenable, Prosthetic
ProducerGabriel Editions
Gojira chronology
The Link Alive
(2004) 		From Mars to Sirius
(2005) 		The Way of All Flesh
(2008)

From Mars to Sirius is the third studio album by French heavy metal band Gojira. It is a concept album addressing environmental issues and the rebirth of a dead planet through a space travel storyline, with the underlying theme of a transition from war to peace. From Mars to Sirius was released in 2005 to critical acclaim. It has since been ranked amongst the Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.

Writing, recording, production

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The album was largely written by Joe and Mario Duplantier, but Christian Andreu contributed certain parts such as the outro of "Where Dragons Dwell"[3] and the central melody on "World to Come". According to Mario, the album was entirely self-produced by the band.[4] Jean-Michel Labadie was involved in the production, especially on the coherence of his bass in the compositions, and with his work the band sought "to bring a much warmer note into their sound".[5] Gojira had emphasized more interludes and melodies in this album. Joe Duplantier said that From Mars to Sirius represented a journey; saying, "and as in every journey, there are air gaps, variations and moments of calm".[6]

After the recording of Terra Incognita made in ten days in a studio in Brussels,[7] the band decided to build their own studio called, Le Studio des Milans, located in their hometown, where From Mars to Sirius would be recorded.[3] The drum recordings were made at Le Florida in Agen.[8][9]

Prior to the album's release date, the band performed two songs at concerts in France, "Backbone" and "The Heaviest Matter of the Universe".[3] The mastering of the album was completed in mid-July 2005.[3]

Concept and artwork

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"Ocean Planet"
Sample of "Ocean Planet". The album was the narrative of a metaphorical journey to the "ocean planet" Sirius C.[6]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

A concept album, From Mars to Sirius relates the resurrection of a dead planet through an interplanetary quest, tackling environmental issues such as climate change and impacts on marine life as well as broader themes of life, death, and rebirth.[10][11][12] Explaining the meaning behind the album title, Joe Duplantier said in an interview that "In some cultures, Mars symbolizes war and Sirius peace. I'm simplifying! It is a journey of a state of war, even if in France we are preserved, but it can be a war within us, in our flesh, in our mind, a war with ourselves".[13]

The song "Flying Whales" is "a homage" to whales and their intelligence.[6] The concept emerged during the second album's tour and resulted in the imagery and artwork for From Mars to Sirius.[14] The cover art was created by Joe Duplantier.[3]

Release

[edit]

Listenable Records reissued the album on vinyl in September 2012 and in November 2015 in limited quantities.[15][16] A 10th anniversary box-set was released on 12 February 2016, again through Listenable Records.[17][18] A video directed by Alain Duplantier was filmed for the song "To Sirius".[19]

Critical reception and legacy

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[20]
AllMusic[21]
The A.V. ClubB[22]
Blabbermouth.net9/10[23]
Decibel8/10[24]
Exclaim!favorable[25]
Phoenix New Timesfavorable[26]
Hard N'Heavy Magazine[27]
Rock Hard8.5/10[28]
Sputnikmusic[29]

From Mars to Sirius was received positively by critics. AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia noted the influences of bands such as Pantera, Meshuggah, and Neurosis on the album, particularly in the guitar work and emphasis on atmosphere.[21] Heaping praise on the album, Rivadavia wrote that "the fluidity with which utmost heaviness and delicate melodies were made to coexist within the scope of single songs like 'Where Dragons Dwell', 'Flying Whales', and 'World to Come', was truly astonishing—as was the surprisingly seamless flow accomplished by the sequencing of these wildly disparate tracks, and the thematically conjoined esoteric subjects undertaken throughout. The final outcome was still not easy to digest, and admittedly just a tad bit overlong (Gojira's next challenge was definitely to be a little more concise), but compared to most of the impossibly dense (and often exhausting) prog metal available, From Mars to Sirius, struck a close to perfect balance between degree of difficulty and ultimate reward."[21]

Blabbermouth.net's Keith Bergman made similar comparisons to Meshuggah and Neurosis, but wrote that "A grocery list of influences does Gojira no justice" and that "This is a masterpiece on par with anything Meshuggah or Mastodon have released."[23] He described their musical style as "dark, churning and hypnotic, massively heavy but varied and surprising, never monotonous"; and their lyrics as "surprisingly positive and life-affirming, their words add humanity to even the most angry, mechanized portions of the album." Bergman concluded his review by praising From Mars to Sirius as an "immense, intense, and very impressive album."[23]

Chad Bowar of About.com commented that the album combine "extreme and heavy, but also has a lot of progressive elements", while "some songs are pure death metal, others much more mellow and atmospheric".[20] Noel Murray of The A.V. Club also viewed that it presents Gojira in two style: "between the bouts of sonic violence, Gojira finds time for the spare instrumental".[22] Niki D'Andrea of Phoenix New Times stated, "Quite simply, in a genre that usually sounds crunchy and confined, Gojira sounds huge, like the conscientious monster it is".[26]

Rolling Stone named the album No. 97 on their list of the Top 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time, and MetalSucks named it no. 9 on their list of the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century.[30][31] Loudwire ranked it as the 15th best progressive metal album of all time,[32] and named it the second-best metal album of 2005 in a retrospective list.[33] Metal Hammer named this album No. 15 out of The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of the 21st Century.[34] AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia describes the album as marking a turning point for the band, "gaining them access into the exclusive top echelon of the world's progressive metal elite." In 2018, Decibel inducted the album into their hall of fame.[35]

Loudwire included "Flying Whales" on their list of the 66 Best Metal Songs of the 21st Century (list sorted by year).[36] Graham Hartmann said it utilized "one of the best riffs and breakdowns of the century", adding that the song "becomes more iconic as the years pass, stretching the limits of what a metal band can achieve without clean vocals or flashy guitar solos".[36] Rolling Stone included the song in their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs, ranking it at number 70.[37]

Track listing

[edit]

All lyrics are written by Joe Duplantier; all music is composed by Gojira

From Mars to Sirius track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Ocean Planet"5:32
2."Backbone"4:18
3."From the Sky"5:48
4."Unicorn" (instrumental)2:09
5."Where Dragons Dwell"6:54
6."The Heaviest Matter of the Universe"3:57
7."Flying Whales"7:44
8."In the Wilderness"7:47
9."World to Come"6:52
10."From Mars"2:24
11."To Sirius"5:37
12."Global Warming"7:50
Total length:66:52
Japanese bonus track[38]
No.TitleLength
13."Escape" (Metallica cover)5:00
Total length:71:52

Personnel

[edit]

Personnel adapted from AllMusic.[39]

Gojira

[edit]

Technical personnel

[edit]

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for From Mars to Sirius
Chart (2005) Peak
position
French Albums (SNEP)[40] 44

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Bagot, Pascal (17 February 2006). "Le métal à la française" [Metal in a French way]. Radio France Internationale (in French). Archived from the original on 2 March 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021. [Firmly established in the register of extreme music, ... their technical and atmospheric death metal]
  2. ^ "#TBT: From Mars to Sirius is Gojira's Massive Meaningful Masterpiece". Metal Injection. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e Badin 2005, p. 23.
  4. ^ Pratt, Greg (August 2018). "In the Deep End: The Making of Gojira's From Mars to Sirius". Decibel. pp. 49–54.
  5. ^ Doucet 2005, p. 35.
  6. ^ a b c Doucet 2005, p. 34.
  7. ^ Arnold, Laurent (7 July 2017). "Gojira: 'La scène est notre maison'" [Gojira: 'The stage is our home']. L'Est Républicain (in French). Nancy, France. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Masterclass with Christian Andreu". Le Florida (in French). 15 March 2021. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  9. ^ From Mars to Sirius (booklet). Gojira. France: Gabriel Editions. 2005. p. 6. MS08.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ "Gojira - From Mars to Sirius". MetalSucks. 24 June 2009.
  11. ^ Lucas, Olivia R. (October 2019). "'Shrieking soldiers … wiping clean the earth': hearing apocalyptic environmentalism in the music of Botanist". Popular Music. 38 (3): 481–497. doi:10.1017/S0261143019000308. ISSN 0261-1430. S2CID 211654173.
  12. ^ "Gojira - "From Mars to Sirius"". Decibel Magazine. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Gojira : Interview / Spirit of Metal Webzine (fr)". www.spirit-of-metal.com (in French). October 2005. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  14. ^ Geist, Brandon (1 March 2007). "Coming to America: Gojira on First U.S. Tour, Flying Whales, Dressing-Room Fires". Revolver. Archived from the original on 4 June 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Gojira catalogue set for vinyl release". Metal Hammer. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  16. ^ "Gojira To Release Past Albums On Limited Splatter Vinyl | Theprp.com – Metal And Hardcore News Plus Reviews And More". Theprp.com. 27 November 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  17. ^ "Gojira: 'From Mars To Sirius' Limited-Edition Tenth-Anniversary Box Set Due In February". Blabbermmouth.net. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  18. ^ "Gojira's From Mars To Sirius gets 10-year box set". Metal Hammer. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  19. ^ Listenablerecs (2 November 2006), Gojira - To Sirius, archived from the original on 22 December 2021, retrieved 17 June 2016
  20. ^ a b "Gojira - From Mars To Sirius Review". Archived from the original on 29 November 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  21. ^ a b c Rivadavia, Eduardo. "From Mars to Sirius". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  22. ^ a b Murray, Noel (23 August 2006). "Music in Brief". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  23. ^ a b c Bergman, Keith (2005). "Gojira - From Mars to Sirius". Blabbermouth.net. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  24. ^ Terry, Nick (February 2006). "Reviews". Decibel. No. 16. Red Flag Media, Inc. pp. 76, 78.
  25. ^ Chris, Chris (1 February 2006). "Gojira − From Mars to Sirius". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  26. ^ a b D'Andrea, Niki (25 October 2007). "From Mars to Sirius review". Phoenix New Times. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  27. ^ Renaud, Charlélie (October 2005). "Gojira - From Mars to Sirius". Review. Hard N'Heavy Magazine (in French). No. 115. Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine: Cyber Press Publishing. p. 68. ISSN 1252-2279.
  28. ^ "Gojira: From Mars to Sirius". Rock Hard (in German). No. 222. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  29. ^ Schroer, Brendan (2 April 2021). "Gojira: From Mars to Sirius". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  30. ^ "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  31. ^ "#9: Gojira - From Mars to Sirius | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 24 June 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  32. ^ Hill, John (28 June 2020). "Top 25 Progressive Metal Albums of All Time". Loudwire. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  33. ^ DiVita, Joe (29 December 2015). "10 Best Metal Albums of 2005". Loudwire. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  34. ^ Hammer, Metal Hammer 2018-10-12T22:37:52Z Metal. "The 100 greatest metal albums of the 21st century". Metal Hammer Magazine. Retrieved 31 January 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  35. ^ "Gojira | Decibel Magazine". Decibel Magazine. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  36. ^ a b "The 66 Best Metal Songs of the 21st Century". Loudwire. 24 September 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  37. ^ "The 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  38. ^ Armstrong, Chuck (22 October 2019). "10 Very Diverse Covers of Metallica Songs − Ranked". Loudwire. Archived from the original on 5 April 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  39. ^ "From Mars to Sirius - Gojira | Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  40. ^ "Lescharts.com – Gojira – From Mars to Sirius". Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 November 2022.

Sources

[edit]
  • Badin, Olivier (August 2005). "Gojira - Ondres, France. 11 & 12 June 2005". Studio reports. Hard N'Heavy Magazine (in French). No. 114. Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine: Cyber Press Publishing. pp. 22–23. ISSN 1252-2279.
  • Doucet, Renaud (October 2005). "Gojira - Notre Mer la Terre" [Gojira - Our Mother the Earth]. Interview. Hard N'Heavy Magazine (in French). No. 115. Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine: Cyber Press Publishing. pp. 32–35. ISSN 1252-2279.
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