Minds were blown last month when Gojira dominated the Olympic opening ceremonies with a performance that included heavy riffs and homages to decapitated French bourgeoisie. Now, the famed French metal outfit are ready to knock your block off again through the official streaming release of their Olympics-exclusive single, “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça Ira)”.
A studio recording of Gojira’s collaborative performance with opera singer Marina Viotti — herself a seasoned metal vet — hit streamers today (August 30), and it reimagines the French Revolution-era composition “Ah! Ça Ira” with syncopated chugs and squeals, death growls, a fuzz-fractured breakdown of operatic cries.
While originally written during a moment of historical upheaval and societal tumult, Gojira’s Joe DuPlantier brings a grizzled optimism to the people as he howls of the hope for a better tomorrow: “Lets us rejoice, good times will come.” Ça ira, indeed.
You can stream the Olympics-sanctioned heaviness up above.
As previously reported, Gojira performed “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça Ira)” from outside of Paris’ Conciergerie, a former palace that served as a prison during the French Revolution. It was the location where Marie-Antoinette was held, before she was beheaded.