Gojira are really f*** heavy. The Way Of All Flesh is essentially 75 minutes of unrelenting heaviness, and I'm 100% okay with that.
More than okay, actually. This album f*** rules.
I enjoyed every minute of this album. From album opener Oroborus to the self titled closing track, I really just couldn't find any significant faults. The riffs are crushing and the drums are pummelling, the vocals are unique (cue links to similar sounding vocalists), and the basswork is great. Rather than attempt to steal the show, Jean-Michel Labadie chooses to lock down the low end, only getting flashy during some of the slower parts. I personally think this works in the album's favour, but others might disagree.

Despite the HEAVY nature of the music, the lyrics are actually very... nice? Environmental themes and the subjects of life and death are regularly covered throughout. Album highlight Toxic Garbage Island ends with the repeated scream of "PLASTIC BAG IN THE SEA" which would sound extremely silly anywhere else, but ends up being one of the greatest moments on the album.
The album closes with "You are leaving this world / All lights are fading away now / Leave behind the loved ones and all you know / Do not be afraid and let yourself go" which, as I said earlier, kind of offset the heaviness. Again, this works in the album's favour as any band could simply write something BRUTAL to fit with the music, but Gojira choose not to.

Overall I'm honestly thinking this is a 9/10. That might sound CRAZY but it's true. If this album keeps me coming back, it might even become one of my all time favourites. Heavily (heh) recommended to fans of metal in general, but anyone else might be turned off by the extreme nature of the album.
Highlights: Toxic Garbage Island, The Art Of Dying, and A Sight To Behold

TMV are a bunch of crazy guys. Reading into how this album came about and its recording process was a learning experience, and if you want, you can do so here because there's really no way for me to paraphrase it.


Frances The Mute is only made up of 5 real songs. However, each of these tracks (minus The Widow) are a little lengthy, at around 13 minutes each.
Except Cassandra Geminni, which is 32 1/2 minutes long.

Looking at the individual tracklengths might be disheartening, but honestly this album is much better as a whole and I don't recommend skipping any of the tracks. Each track flows into the next via ambient noise or, in The Widow's case, creepy sounding organs. While I previously criticized an album for having too much wasted time, I actually think it works to the album's advantage here because of how well it's implemented and how it effects the whole atmosphere of the album.

"But Scott, you haven't said anything about the actual songs!"
there's a good reason for that! as I said earlier, each song is lengthy and filled to the brim with crazy performances from each band member. quite frankly, writing about each individual song would be too much for me!
I can talk about The Widow, however, because it's the most radio friendly song TMV have written (aside from the previously mentioned organs near the end, which were actually cut from the radio edit).
The Widow is a great track. Cedric Bixler-Zavala's vocal performance here is a thing of beauty. Featuring some great trumpet playing from Flea (of RHCP fame), the band reins in the craziness a bit here, and instead opts to let Cedric carry the song.

Overall I'd give it an 8/10. Really fun to listen to all the way through, even if Cassandra Gemenni does drag a little.
Recommended tracks: The Widow and L'Via L'Viaquez (radio edit) because they're not crazy long