Gojira, a leading French heavy metal band, became the first hard rock act to perform in an Olympic Games opening ceremony when it did a metal version of “Ah! Ça Ira,” a song that was popular during the French Revolution. The band had reworked the song in collaboration with Victor le Masne, and performed with the opera singer Marina Viotti.
Formed in 1996 by brothers Mario and Joe Duplantier, Gojira has since released seven albums and received three Grammy nominations for its pounding songs that often touch on environmental issues. Its last album, “Fortitude,” from 2021, included a track about the Amazon that warned, in guttural growls and aggressive riffs, that the rainforest was “burning to the ground.”
Before Friday’s performance, Joe Duplantier, 47, the band’s singer and guitarist, said in a phone interview that asking a heavy metal band to play a revolutionary anthem was a smart idea. “It was a very bloody era of French history, so it was very metal,” he said.
Duplantier said the band felt pressure to represent “the whole metal community on the world stage,” but insisted Gojira would not be toning anything down. “The song’s going to be in your face,” Duplantier said.
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