Gojira stole the show at last month’s Olympics opening ceremony in Paris with their mesmerizing performance of “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)” featuring opera singer Marina Viotti. Now, the French metal masters have unveiled an official single version of the song via streaming services (listen below).
The official audio comes two weeks before Gojira support Korn on a North American tour that kicks off September 12th and runs through October 27th, with tickets available here.
Viewers who tuned in to the Olympics opening ceremony on July 26th witnessed Gojira performing from platforms extending outside the windows of the Conciergerie building, a former prison and courthouse that sits along the River Seine. They delivered an extreme metal version of the French Revolution-era song “Ah, Ça Ira!,” and were joined by opera singer Marina Viotti, who floated down the river in a wooden ship.
The performance featured a headless Marie Antoinette and massive pyro as Gojira brought heavy metal to the Olympics opening ceremony for the first time ever.
A few days later, drummer Mario Duplantier reflected, “What a tremendous honor to be part of this ambitious and epic ceremony in Paris. I have to admit that headbanging in front of a billion people, hitting as hard as I could in a revolutionary scenery made of fire and blood, was a very gratifying experience! A big step for the metal community as well.”
Listen to the official audio of Gojira’s “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)” below.