That’s right, folks. The votes have been counted and verified and we can now reveal that Gojira’s latest album Magma is YOUR favourite album of 2016 so far. Over the past five days, Metal Hammer readers have been voting in our online poll of 30 of the year’s biggest and best albums and Gojira’s stunning sixth album is at the top of the pile.
Described in the pages of Metal Hammer (and on TeamRock+) as “Gojira untethered and running wild”, Magma is an audible evolution and exploration into the vast chasms of post-metal that “exudes heartfelt rage and a sense of genuine, if cautious, hope.”
As explored in the Metal Hammer cover feature, many of Magma’s songs were in the works when mainmen Joe and Mario Duplantier’s mother passed away.
“We made this album with sadness and pain,” Joe told Hammer, “but it’s a pure expression of feelings in the moment: we are mourning, but at the same time there is joy. Even though we lost our mother, in some ways we didn’t lose her, because she made us, and we are part of her, and somehow her spirit is still around with us.”
“I remember when we decided to call the album Magma,” said Mario. “It was when our mother was in hospital and it was the most difficult time for all of us. We were feeling a mix between memories of the past and a fear of the future, with all the emotions burning inside. ‘Magma’ is this expression of something boiling inside: we cannot touch it, but eventually it will erupt. It makes perfect sense for how we were feeling at the time.”
But which other albums from the past six months are you guys listening to? Here’s the top ten as voted for by Metal Hammer readers.
- Gojira – Magma
- Megadeth – Dystopia
- Volbeat – Seal The Deal And Let’s Boogie
- Architects – All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us
- Amon Amarth – Jomsviking
- Anthrax – For All Kings
- Deftones – Gore
- Killswitch Engage – Incarnate
- Babymetal – Metal Resistance
- Rotting Christ – Rituals
With so many more bands left to release music in 2016, which of these will make your End Of Year list?
"We can change the world." An audience with Gojira - metal's most important band
