when listenable announced the re-pressings of the three gojira records in their back catalogue and after i re-assured myself that i really like this band, i was waiting eagerly for my pre-order from nuclear blast to arrive. when they finally did, it seemed like a bad joke to me. i get my packages sent to my work address, to make sure i don't have to pick up records at the post office because i wasn't home when they showed up. usually a collegue of mine accepts the parcels.
unfortunately a big tear at one edge of the parcel went unnoticed until i picked it up. on my way home i was picturing nasty seam-splits on my records, stuff that collector's nightmares are made of. when i arrived home, all my worries came true. apart from a creased corner, 'from mars to sirius' came in relatively unharmed but the other two were looking horrible. the records were sealed, which is usually enough to save covers from seam-splits but the fucking postman must have played rugby with the parcel, badly at that.
both, 'the way of all flesh' and 'the link', showed ugly seam-splits on cover and dust sleeves alike. damn it! fortunately nuclear blast is pretty cool with returning damaged goods and sending out new copies if still available. under these circumstances i was quite lucky that 'from mars to sirius' was ok, because it was the only one being already sold out at that point. thankfully nb sent me some lovely new copies and even opening the seals upon my request, to get the the vinyl delivered outside the cover. thanks guys!
musically this is very close to my favourite, 'from mars to sirius'. maybe a little darker all in all but brilliant all the way through. a little tech death here, a little groove there, some unusual guitar hooks and a little bit of experimenting with electronic music and ready is the master piece. sometimes the fragments seem so easy, almost banal but listening to it in whole you'll see the bigger picture. an exciting record at every second. lyrically it's about the bands vision of life and death. leaves plenty of room for interpretation. 500 copies on clear with blue and black splatter vinyl. listenable records. 2008/2016.
oh yeah, here is a glimpse on what my first copy of 'the way of all flesh' looked like when it arrived.
what a diabolical waste...