In March 2012, Gojira teased the arrival of an EP titled Sea Shepherd with "Of Blood and Salt," a single sporting contributions from Devin Townsend and Meshuggah guitarist Frederik Thordendal. All this time later, the EP has yet to surface — though the band aren't ready to let it be the one that got away.
In a new interview with Kerrang!, Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier shared how the band previously tried to release Sea Shepherd — a four-track release set to benefit the conservation society of the same name — before delivering 2016's Magma and 2021's Fortitude.
Teased following the release of Gojira's major label debut, 2012's L'Enfant Sauvage, the EP's release was reportedly derailed by hard drive failure, an issue Duplantier acknowledges in his interview.
"The one track that we did bring out, 'Of Blood and Salt' featuring Devin Townsend and Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah, was great, but then it got buried — at first under technical issues, then under all of the other things we have going on," the frontman shared of the EP, adding, "Some of it got lost; some of it needs rebuilding."
"Before we brought out [2016 album] Magma, we had a meeting and decided that it was something we wanted to release before the album, but the record label wanted us to release after so that it didn't interfere with all of the expectation that was building," Duplantier continued. "After the album came out, it turned out that we were so busy that we barely had time to catch up with life. You have to rehearse, you have to be ready for tour, you have so many interviews and obligations. Then the same thing happened during [2021 album] Fortitude. There are three more songs somewhere on a hard drive still to come out some day. I will release them before I die!"
With the frontman's word, here's hoping the rest of Sea Shepherd washes ashore one day. For now, revisit "Of Blood and Salt" below.
This year, Gojira will join their similarly monstrous metal partners in Mastodon for a co-headlining North American tour.
In a new interview with Kerrang!, Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier shared how the band previously tried to release Sea Shepherd — a four-track release set to benefit the conservation society of the same name — before delivering 2016's Magma and 2021's Fortitude.
Teased following the release of Gojira's major label debut, 2012's L'Enfant Sauvage, the EP's release was reportedly derailed by hard drive failure, an issue Duplantier acknowledges in his interview.
"The one track that we did bring out, 'Of Blood and Salt' featuring Devin Townsend and Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah, was great, but then it got buried — at first under technical issues, then under all of the other things we have going on," the frontman shared of the EP, adding, "Some of it got lost; some of it needs rebuilding."
"Before we brought out [2016 album] Magma, we had a meeting and decided that it was something we wanted to release before the album, but the record label wanted us to release after so that it didn't interfere with all of the expectation that was building," Duplantier continued. "After the album came out, it turned out that we were so busy that we barely had time to catch up with life. You have to rehearse, you have to be ready for tour, you have so many interviews and obligations. Then the same thing happened during [2021 album] Fortitude. There are three more songs somewhere on a hard drive still to come out some day. I will release them before I die!"
With the frontman's word, here's hoping the rest of Sea Shepherd washes ashore one day. For now, revisit "Of Blood and Salt" below.
This year, Gojira will join their similarly monstrous metal partners in Mastodon for a co-headlining North American tour.
