Gojira recently released the single / video "Amazonia", taken from their long-awaited new album, Fortitude, which will be released April 30 via Roadrunner Records. Proceeds from "Amazonia" will benefit the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) who advocate for environmental and cultural rights of indigenous tribes in the Amazon who have suffered immensely - victims of deforestation, land loss, forced labor, violence, and harassment.

The band followed up the single release with a video message explaining the initiative along with a detailed message. Check it out below.

"On March 26th we released our new single, 'Amazonia'. We wrote this song because we feel heartbroken to see the last ancient forest on earth disappearing before our eyes. If it continues at this rate, there will be no more Amazon forest in 15 years. We decided to do something to help the situation. We chose to make a donation and organize an auction to raise money around this release. We want to be vocal about it, raise awareness and start a movement with the help of our brothers and sisters from the metal / rock scene. 
 
Since the dramatic increase of criminal fires and deforestation in the Amazon in 2019, we have been doing extensive research and speaking with some of the fiercest activists in the United States, France and Brazil.  We’ve asked for their opinions their opinion and guidance on how to help with the conservation and reforestation of the Amazon rainforest. We quickly understood that the only way to protect the forest is to ensure the survival of its indigenous inhabitants. 
 
Farmlands are taking over the forest at an incredible pace. The current Brazilian government is aggravating the situation. Attacks on indigenous peoples and general violence against them has been increasing at an alarming rate.  Harassment, murder, criminal fires on indigenous land… is what’s happening right now.

We have a responsibility:  Europe and America are Brazil’s largest markets for consumer goods and raw materials. Our consumer behavior thus helped trigger the situation in Amazonia and is providing incentives for the burning of the rainforest. 
 
The impact of the destruction of the Amazon and its biodiversity can hardly be estimated. It is an irreparable loss for humankind!"

Available in multiple formats for pre-order, Fortitude stands out as Gojira’s first album in five years and the follow-up to 2016’s Grammy nominated LP, Magma.

As if shedding skin and baring armour in its place, “Born For One Thing” represents a natural evolution for the acclaimed French band: hyper-focused but unhinged, confrontational and yet compassionate. “We have to practice detaching ourselves from everything, beginning with actual things,” vocalist / guitarist Joe Duplantier says of the song’s anti-consumerist message, which was partially inspired by the Tibetan and Thai philosophers he read in his youth back in France. “Own less possessions, and give what you don’t need away, because one day we’ll have to let everything go, and if we don’t, we’ll just become ghosts stuck between dimensions.”

Recorded and Produced by Joe Duplantier at Silver Cord Studio - Gojira’s Ridgewood, Queens, headquarters – and mixed by Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Rage Against The Machine), Fortitude is a collection of songs urging humanity to imagine a new world—and then make it happen. The band initially laid the foundation for Fortitude last year with the surprise release of the 2020 single “Another World.” Fortitude continues Gojira’s career-long tradition of harnessing their music as a vehicle for environmental activism with songs like “Amazonia” and “The Chant” not only surveying critical cases, but also catalysing listeners to take action.

On 2016’s Magma, Gojira found strength - and crossover success- through a singular commitment to self-reflection. The intensely personal record, penned in memory of the Duplantier brothers' late mother, was a painful significant turning point for the French group. The album earned the band two Grammy nominations - ‘Best Metal Performance’ and ‘Best Rock Album,’ and upon release, Magma took the #1 spot on Billboard's ‘Hard Rock Albums’ chart, a first for a French band.

Fortitude tracklisting:

“Born For One Thing”
“Amazonia”
“Another World”
“Hold On”
“New Found”
“Fortitude”
“The Chant”
“Sphinx”
“Into The Storm”
“The Trails”
“Grind”

"Born For One Thing" video:

(Photo - Gabrielle Duplantier)