A good chunk of Gojira's extensive discography has made it to the stage, but these eight haven't yet… and they really should. Check out all of our Never Played Live series here!
"Over the Flows" from The Link (2003)
Early Gojira is an interesting mix of almost System Of A Down-styled nü-metal (lookin' at you as an example too, "Satan Is A Lawyer") and their later groove. "Over the Flows" is a very cool example of that, which could be reimagined a bit and thrown into a modern Gojira show.
"Yama's Messengers" from The Way of All Flesh (2008)
Boy, a lot of The Way of All Flesh hasn't made it to the stage, huh? Which is surprising considering every song from that record is "one-hundred story tall sledgehammer falling" levels of heavy. Maybe they don't play "Yama's Messengers" because venue infrastructure can't handle it?
"All the Tears" from The Way of All Flesh (2008)
"All the Tears" has precisely one speed, it's "mid-paced steamroller running you over feet first." Maybe "All the Tears" never made it to the stage because it's basically four minutes of floor-caving mosh riffs? I mean seriously, this song is just outright furious with no relent.
"Esoteric Surgery" from The Way of All Flesh (2008)
Alright, "Esoteric Surgery" I get. This song is fucking complicated. So complicated that Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier said it's the one reason Gojira won't do a Way of All Flesh anniversary tour. "As a guitar player, I can play the whole song easily. As a singer, I can sing the whole song. But doing both together is a bit challenging."
"This Emptiness" from L'Enfant Sauvage (2012)
L'Enfant Sauvage has two fantastic bonus tracks, neither of which have ever made it to the stage. "This Emptiness" feels more like Gojira took the world-destroying heaviness of The Way of All Flesh and tailored it to playing bigger rooms – a little slower, a little less bludgeoning, still awesome.
"My Last Creation" from L'Enfant Sauvage (2012)
"My Last Creation" is all over the place in the best way possible. From a frantic opening to a sudden slow down, back to a spring double bass riff, to a sudden slow down… you get the idea. "My Last Creation" isn't exactly "Esoteric Surgery", but I can't imagine playing this one live would be easy.
"Magma" from Magma (2016)
"Magma" is a good one for the middle of a set when things need to get toned down a little bit. It's surprising Gojira hasn't busted this one out, considering a lot of the clean singing and more experimental tones fit right in with what they ended up doing on Fortitude.
"Into the Storm" from Fortitude (2021)
There's no way that "Into The Storm" isn't getting added to Gojira's live setlist soon, right? This song shreds all the way through, and the groove that kick in around the one-minute mark is headband city. I can't imagine "Into The Storm" will remain on this list for very long.
