Gojira Unveils Video for “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)” in Celebration of the Paris Olympic Games!

Gojira’s Historic Performance

Gojira has unveiled the official music video for “Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!),” the track they showcased at the Paris Olympics this past summer.

In July, the band made history by becoming the first metal band to take the stage during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. They performed a song that resonated during the French Revolution in a segment titled “Liberty,” referencing France’s renowned motto “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.” This tribute celebrates one of the most significant events in French history while highlighting the nation’s dedication to freedom.

Performance Details

Gojira delivered their performance from the windows of the Concierge, joined by experimental opera singer Marina Viotti and nearly 300 classical musicians.

The track has since earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Metal Performance and was projected onto the Arc de Triomphe in Paris back in September.

Watch the official video below:

The performance provoked a range of reactions, with some viewers questioning if they had witnessed “one of the most memorable moments of 2024” or merely a “freak show.” As backlash on social media mounted, Gojira responded to allegations regarding their performance being “satanic.”

Frontman Joe Duplantier addressed the controversy in an interview with Rolling Stone: “This is a French story. It’s French charm, you know, headless people, red wine, and blood everywhere – it’s romantic, it’s normal. There is nothing satanic about this.”

Notably, despite the backlash, Gojira experienced a substantial boost in their streaming numbers, with their monthly audience climbing to nearly 2.7 million during the week of their performance, marking an increase of almost 50 percent.

Upcoming Album Insights

In related news, Duplantier recently provided an update on Gojira’s “ambitious” forthcoming album, stating, “We’re very ambitious in terms of songwriting and quality. With this album, we aim to take a clear step forward and upward. So we are pouring all our love and energy into it.”