Gojira were the first metal band to ever perform at the Olympic Games, and they did so during the 2024 Paris Olympics. The French band’s riff-filled performance took place as a collaboration with French-Swiss mezzo-soprano and opera singer Marina Viotti, as well as 300 classical musicians.
Following that July 26, 2024, performance, Gojira became the talk of the world and introduced the metal genre to an entirely new, and larger, audience.
Gojira’s most recent studio album in 2021’s Fortitude. So, when do they plan to release another?
New Music for Gojira
Drummer Mario Duplantier has dropped the news that the band plans to release a new album in 2026. Even though they could have opted to release new music right after the Paris Olympics performance to capitalize on that performance, they decided to wait and wanted to take their time to craft the best album possible.
Speaking with Bloodstock TV, Duplantier said that the new album took the band “a long time.”
“We needed that time, I think, just to make sure we are all on the same page, make sure what Gojira is bringing next is strong enough,” he added. “Also, we don’t have that much pressure. We are not a young band anymore. We’re not like Sleep Token or Lorna Shore where the next album is so important. We’ve been a band for 30 years, so Gojira is already an established band.”
He added, “It doesn’t mean that we can be lazy — it doesn’t mean that — but it’s very crucial to take the time to bring something fresh and new and powerful. For the new songs, we took so much time just to make sure everything is fine and powerful enough and, I don’t know, smart enough, as well. But it’s on the way, it’s on the way. 2026, for sure.”
So, while there’s no release date yet, it’s nice to hear that new music is on the way.
Six months after their Olympics debut, Gojira won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance for their Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony performance.
“It’s a real team effort, in the context of the Olympics and the ceremony, so a very, very special moment and we were already on a high because of that and now it ends with a Grammy so it wraps it up really nicely,” Duplantier said after getting the award, according to the Olympics website.
