Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier believes the metal scene is a more inclusive place than some might think.
Reacting to Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider’s remarks that metal is more divisive than ever, Duplantier gave his take on the state of the scene and took a different view to his elder counterpart.
Speaking to TeamRock at Bloodstock before his band perform on the Ronnie James Dio stage tonight (Saturday), Duplantier says: “I think it’s pretty good. There is a shift in the mentality where there is no lines between genres any more.
“I know we don’t have the bands that we had in the 90s, like Pantera and Rage Against The Machine, but we do have Mastodon, Meshuggah, Behemoth and bands like that who are part of it.
“Mastodon, for example, move between genres but they are very welcome in the metal community. Music now is more of a way to connect people than back in the day. Metal is growing as the world is shrinking, because the internet has brought us closer together.
“So I don’t think it’s divisive, I think it’s the opposite.”
Duplantier gives a very recent example for why he thinks this way, describing how he watched French electronic star Perturbator wow thousands of metalheads at the Brutal Assault festival in the Czech Republic this week.
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He adds: “We were at Brutal Assault and there was this French guy called Perturbator who was playing pretty electronic music and all these Eastern European death and black metal fans were really enjoying it.”
Gojira’s sixth album Magma was only released this year, but already the band’s thoughts are moving towards the follow-up, with Duplantier itching to get back into his purpose-built new studio in New York.
He says: “We wrote a lot of songs for Magma that didn’t make it on to the record so we have that material still spinning in our heads. We did consider putting some of it out on an EP but we will see what happens.
“We talk about new material often because we don’t want to wait too long before we put out the next record. We want to keep going with new songs and be progressive.
“We definitely feel very inspired. When I listen to Magma I hear things and get little ideas that could lead to other songs.”
In July, Metal Hammer fans voted Magma their favourite album of 2016 so far. Gojira have a string of tour dates still to come this year.
Gojira 2016 tour dates
Aug 13: Catton Bloodstock Festival, UK
Sep 21: Silver Spring The Fillmore Silver Spring, MD
Sep 22: Philadelphia Electric Factory, PA
Sep 24: Asheville The Orange Peel, NC
Sep 25: Atlanta The Tabernacle, GA
Sep 26: Orlando Plaza Live, FL
Sep 27: Tampa Ritz Ybor, FL
Sep 29: Austin Emo’s, TX
Sep 30: Houston House of Blues, TX
Oct 01: Dallas Gas Monkey Live, TX
Oct 03: Albuquerque Sunshine Theatre, NM
Oct 04: Phoenix Marquee Theatre, AZ
Oct 06: Los Angeles The Wiltern, CA
Oct 07: San Francisco The Warfield, CA
Oct 09: Vancouver Vogue Theatre, BC
Oct 10: Portland Roseland Theater, OR
Oct 11: Seattle Showbox SoDo, WA
Oct 13: Salt Lake City The Complex, UT
Oct 14: Denver Gothic Theatre, CO
Oct 16: Minneapolis Myth Live, MN
Oct 17: Milwaukee Turner Ballroom, WI
Oct 19: Detroit The Fillmore Detroit, MI
Oct 20: Toronto Sound Academy, ON
Oct 21: Montreal Metropolis, QC
Oct 22: Worcester The Palladium, MA
Oct 23: New York Terminal 5, NY
Nov 23: Manchester Arena, UK (with Alter Bridge, Volbeat, Like A Storm)
Nov 24: London O2 Arena, UK (with Alter Bridge, Volbeat, Like A Storm)
Nov 26: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena, UK (with Alter Bridge, Volbeat, Like A Storm)
Nov 27: Birmingham Genting Arena, UK (with Alter Bridge, Volbeat, Like A Storm)
Nov 28: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena, UK (with Alter Bridge, Volbeat, Like A Storm)
Dec 01: Glasgow Hydro, UK (with Alter Bridge, Volbeat, Like A Storm)
Dec 02: Leeds First Direct Arena, UK (with Alter Bridge, Volbeat, Like A Storm)
Dec 04: Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle, Germany (with Alter Bridge, Like A Storm)
Dec 05: Cologne Palladium, Germany (with Alter Bridge, Like A Storm)
Dec 06: Hamburg Mehri Theater, Germany (with Alter Bridge, Like A Storm)
Dec 09: Bolognia Unipol Arena, Italy (with Alter Bridge, Like A Storm)
Dec 10: Munich Zenith, Germany (with Alter Bridge, Like A Storm)
Dec 11: Basel Jakobshalle, Switzerland (with Alter Bridge, Like A Storm)
