The latest album from Gojira solidifies this French quartet’s place amongst metal’s elite, as this avant-garde unit’s extraordinary juxtaposition of crushing and progressive elements is stretched past the point of reproach on the 12-track THE WAY OF ALL FLESH. Fueled by an ecological mindset which sets the lyrical tone of take care of Mother Earth or else, this squad doles out a harbinging mix of epic death metal complete with dizzying time signature switches and waves of doom metal monotony (“The Art of Dying”) and industrial strength grooves that simply brutalize (“Toxic Garbage Island,” “Yama’s Messengers”), while challenging your ears with superlative blasts of sonic excess (“Vacuity”). Providing a bevy of dazzling dynamic shifts and a haunting black metal intensity throughout (“Wolf Down the Earth”), Gojira has created a unique strand of metal music that gets better after every listen. www.prostheticrecords.com -Mike SOS