Mario Duplantier’s Latest Drum Solo Should Put All Other Metal Drummers on Notice

I’m sorry, but there’s no other way to put this — Gojira‘s drummer Mario Duplantier is among the best drummers out there period. Not just in metal, not just in rock and roll. Nah, this Frenchman is out here behind the kit showing up pretty much everyone out there.

In a new drum solo video posted to his personal YouTube channel earlier today, Duplantier flies through that I can only describe as a drumming layman as “wizardry.” The piece, dubbed “Armor,” is interesting as all get out, as it’s not just some dude banging around behind the kit. Like most stuff he does, Duplantier uses the drums to make music, not just sit as the backbone of the rhythm section.

We’ve known for a while that Gojira’s got new music in the works. Last October, Duplantier was interviewed by Colombia’s El Expreso Del Rock, where he said some extremely exciting shit about the band’s follow up to Fortitude.

“Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. We work on new stuff for a long time, actually. We have a lot, a lot, a lot of ideas. We have structures of new songs. But we are so picky that we really want to take this time to drop something very unique. And why not having more songs to record? Instead of having 10 songs, maybe have like 15 songs; I don’t know. But we are working on it very hard. But it’s a bit early in the process to talk about the date of release and all that. But what I can tell is it’s on a good way. We are very proud of what we have right now.”

We may not know exactly when this new, heavier album is coming, but I for one can’t wait. Especially if it’s got drumming like this.