The French band Gojira are one of this century’s most important underground metal institutions. The band figured out a way to weld the grimy, mathy complications of technical death metal to the grand, mathy complications of prog-rock, and they quickly became the kind of band that other bands mythologize. Gojira don’t record too often these days, and they haven’t released an album since 2016’s Magma. So it’s cool to see that they’ve suddenly emerged this morning with a new standalone single called “Another World.”

By Gojira’s standards, “Another World” is a relatively straightforward track. It’s a big, riffy rocker with an arena-sized melodic chorus and no real abrupt time-signature ruptures. There’s plenty of crunch and ferocity to the track, but it’s also got a sludgy expansiveness that reminds me of recent Mastodon. In the song’s psychedelic, Planet Of The Apes-esque animated video, directors Maxime Tiberhgien and Sylvain Favre show the members of Gojira building themselves a rocket so that they can escape a dying earth. Check it out below.

Gojira were planning to spend much of 2020 on a North American tour with Deftones. In an optimistic move that contrasts with the future imagined in the “Another World” video, those dates have been reschedule for next year. Check out the itinerary below.

TOUR DATES:
8/12 ­– Minneapolis, MN @ The Armory *
8/14 – Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom *
8/15 – Sterling Heights, MI @ Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill *
8/17 – Chicago, IL @ Huntington Bank Pavilion *
8/19 – Toronto, ON @ RBC Echo Beach *
8/20 – Laval, QC @ Place Bell *
8/21 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena *
8/23 – Boston, MA @ Agganis Arena *
8/24 – New York, NY @ The Rooftop at Pier 17 *
8/27 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia *
8/28 – Asbury Park, NJ @ Stone Pony Summerstage *
8/29 – Washington, DC @ The Anthem *
8/31 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Petersen Events Center, University of Pittsburgh *
9/02 – Indianapolis, IN @ Amphitheater at White River State Park *
9/03 – Nashville, TN @ Nashville Municipal Auditorium *
9/04 – Atlanta, GA @ Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park *
9/06 – Irving, TX @ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory *
9/07 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall *
9/08 – San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center *
9/10 – Denver, CO @ Pepsi Center *
9/11 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheatre *
9/14 – Phoenix, AZ @ Arizona Federal Theatre *
9/17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Greek Theatre *
9/18 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium *
9/21 – Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theater *
9/22 – Portland, OR @ Theatre of the Clouds at Moda Center *

* with Deftones.

“Another World” is out now on the streaming platforms.