Gojira

Explore the band's historical lineups, musicians, and studio albums.

Active2 formations7 studio albums

Formation chronology

Newest first

Formation 2 of 2

1998 – Present

Members

Joe Duplantier
Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
From Jan 1998
Mario Duplantier
Drums, Backing Vocals
From Jan 1998
Christian Andreu
Lead Guitar
From Jan 1998
Jean-Michel Labadie
Bass
From Jan 1998

Formation facts

Jean-Michel Labadie joined around 1998 while the name was still Godzilla, completing the quartet heard on every Gojira studio album through Fortitude.
Before Terra Incognita, the new four documented itself on the Saturate demo — an early recording of the Labadie quartet still working under the Godzilla name.
They became dissatisfied with the image the 1998 Hollywood Godzilla film attached to their name. Joe later described receiving a lawyer's letter asking them to stop using Godzilla, and they adopted Gojira — the original Japanese name for the creature.
Terra Incognita was tracked in ten days at Impuls Studios in Belgium, then mixed in five. Joe remembered a frisbee on the lawn outside becoming part of the daily sprint — work, throw, go back in.
They issued the debut themselves through Gabriel Editions, a DIY family operation run from the kitchen — packing, corresponding, and getting the record out without a conventional label machine.
Early attempts to land a conventional record deal went nowhere, so Gojira built its own infrastructure, releasing and managing the music itself rather than waiting for the industry to make room.
In the early 2000s Gojira rebuilt a derelict Landes barn into Studio des Milans, giving the band its own rehearsal and recording base and extending the DIY approach behind The Link and later records.
From Mars to Sirius imagined a dying Earth, whales as guides, and a journey from Mars toward Sirius — an environmental and spiritual concept album that carried Gojira far beyond the Bayonne circuit.
A last-minute chance in Brighton put Gojira on the path to replacing Mastodon at Download Festival — the breakthrough Joe later traced, in his 2026 VS Podcast conversation, from that opportunity to a much larger British stage.
Randy Blythe of Lamb of God flew to France to record guest vocals on Adoration for None for The Way of All Flesh, a collaboration Joe said grew out of their friendship.
Joe played bass on Cavalera Conspiracy's Inflikted while remaining in Gojira. He did not play the Infliktour. Johny Chow debuted live with Cavalera Conspiracy on 30 May 2008, as Gojira was working on The Way of All Flesh.
For Sea Shepherd, Gojira cut Of Blood And Salt with Devin Townsend and Meshuggah's Fredrik Thordendal — a one-off collaboration built around the conservation campaign rather than a new studio LP.
A hard-drive failure later disrupted that Sea Shepherd work. Audio was recovered, but some material still needed rebuilding, and in later interviews Joe said three additional songs remained unreleased — pieces he still intends to finish.
Joe explained L'Enfant Sauvage as the wild child: a figure who refuses to be tamed, which became the title and the idea behind the 2012 record.
In Ridgewood, Queens, Joe and Mario helped build Silver Cord Studio with their own hands, hauling building materials into the space that became Gojira's New York recording room.
Magma sessions stopped when Joe and Mario learned their mother Patricia was dying. After her death on 5 July 2015, they returned to the record, and the loss reshaped both its writing and tone.
The 2017 Grammys brought Gojira's first Recording Academy nominations: Magma for Best Rock Album and Silvera for Best Metal Performance.
On 18 May 2019 at Sonic Temple in Columbus, wind drove stage pyro into Christian Andreu's face during Stranded. He briefly left the stage, then returned and finished the set.
Fortitude's recording and mix schedule was broken up by COVID restrictions. The band finished the album under altered, often remote conditions rather than the continuous studio run they had planned.
Gojira's Amazonia campaign, with Propeller and Brazil's Association of Indigenous Peoples (APIB), helped raise more than $300,000 for indigenous organizations.
In May 2022 Christian stepped away from a Deftones support run to be with his newborn. Aldrick Guadagnino of Klone filled in for the remaining U.S. dates.
On 26 July 2024 at the Conciergerie in Paris, all four Gojira members performed Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!) with opera singer Marina Viotti and composer Victor Le Masne during the Olympic opening ceremony — the first metal band to perform at an Olympic opening ceremony.
At the 2025 Grammys, Gojira, Marina Viotti and Victor Le Masne won Best Metal Performance for Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!), the band's first Grammy win and a career total of one win from four nominations.
In late 2025 Joe underwent minor right-hand surgery and could not cover every guitar part on a French tour. Greg Kubacki of Car Bomb joined the shows on extra guitar while Joe continued on vocals.
In July 2026 an immigration issue kept Mario from reaching the U.S. in time for three festivals. Luigi Paraventi of Paleface Swiss stepped in on drums, prompting Gojira's “Player 2 has entered the game” announcement.

Studio albums

Fortitude (Apr 2021)
Magma (Jun 2016)
L'Enfant Sauvage (Jun 2012)
The Way of All Flesh (Oct 2008)
From Mars to Sirius (Sep 2005)
The Link (Apr 2003)
Terra Incognita (Mar 2001)

Formation 1 of 2

1996 – 1997

Members

Joe Duplantier
Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Jan 1996 – Dec 1997
Mario Duplantier
Drums, Backing Vocals
Jan 1996 – Dec 1997
Christian Andreu
Lead Guitar
Jan 1996 – Dec 1997
Alexandre Cornillon
Bass
Jan 1996 – Dec 1997

Formation facts

In 1996 in Ondres, Joe Duplantier and his younger brother Mario started a band in the family-garage environment. Mario was still in his mid-teens. They called it Godzilla.
Christian Andreu and Alexandre Cornillon completed that original Godzilla lineup — two guitars, bass, and Mario on drums — before the band had a full-length record.
The Duplantier brothers grew up in an artistic French-American household: a French father and an American mother, Patricia, who encouraged drawing, music, and making things by hand. That mix shaped how Joe and Mario learned to write and play together.
In April 1997 Godzilla recorded the Possessed demo at Studio Antéa with Cornillon on bass, capturing the founding four on tape before Gojira had made a full-length album.
Cornillon's chapter ended around 1998. Jean-Michel Labadie took over bass before the band recorded its first full-length album, completing the quartet that would become Gojira.