Christian Andreu shreds at the Fonda Theatre.

The title of Gojira’s acclaimed 2012 album is L’Enfant Sauvage, or The Wild Child.

Wild was definitely the operative adjective to the French Metallers’ show Friday night at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles.  To turn a phonetic spin on “sauvage,” savage could be another descriptor of the event. A sold-out crowd was primed for some brutal metal, and Gojira delivered with the force of a sledgehammer.

As the audience waited for Gojira, the twinkling lights on the backdrop set an eerie tone.  A large replica of the human-shaped head from L’Enfant Sauvage’s cover loomed in front of the stars.

Following opening acts The Atlas Moth and The Devin Townsend Project, frontman Joe Duplantier walked out and shouted “Are you alive!?”  The question elicited a throaty roar over the feedback coming from the band’s huge amp stacks. Continue reading →