10 Best Heavy Metal Live Performances Of 2016
1. Gojira
With a stage presence as titanic and destructive as their name suggests, Gojira just had to be at number one.
Hailing from the middle of nowhere in France, they brought the aggression of the wilderness to 2016's stages, playing sets at Download Festival (both in the UK and France) and Bloodstock Open Air as well as touring all over the planet with pioneers like TesseracT, Alter Bridge and Volbeat in tow.
Easily one of the heaviest bands on the planet, the tech-death/groove metal pioneers are unrivalled when it comes to live performances, with their power and intense intricacy never faltering, no matter how long they may spend on-stage.
Are their shows diverse? No. Are they for everyone? Definitely not. But I would literally kill to be able to go to a Gojira show every night of my life. Even though their stock lies heavily in death metal abrasiveness, everything they do on-stage is perfect, to the point where their support slots often threatened to dethrone the headliner.
Mastodon at Bloodstock? Annihilated by Gojira. Saxon on Download UK's third stage? Forget about it. And as much as I hate to say it, even the exciting Alter Bridge could barely keep up when the two bands toured the UK.
If you haven't seen a Gojira show, you have to. Immediately.
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What's been your gig of the year? Let us know in the comments!