There's a strange, yet stubbornly ingrained stereotype of the French as passive, high-brow types who don't like confrontation. It’s the sort of image held by people who order Freedom Fries at McDonalds, who’ve never paid attention to footage of running battles amidst political protests on Parisian streets, and, well, who probably got us into this Brexit mess in the first place. Ahem... More representative of the real France are the Gallic metal and hardcore scenes currently flourishing, with acts like Bagnols-sur-Cèze blackgaze duo Alcest, Laval punks Birds In Row and Marseilles metalcore mob Landmvrks ploughing through. Even with such rich competition, it’s impossible to deny the role Bayonne tech-groove-metal heavyweights Gojira have played in getting the scene to where it is today. On the go since 1996 and breaking through properly with 2005’s stunning From Mars To Sirius, they’re only behind the mighty Mastodon in terms of metallic importance and influence in the 21st Century. Keen activists, frequent collaborators and famously open minds, there have rarely been better representatives of those particularly French values: liberté, égalité, fraternité. Brilliantly, there are whisperings that their hugely-anticipated seventh LP should arrive this year, too.