Gojira became the first heavy music act to perform in an Olympic Games opening ceremony on Friday, performing a song of the French Revolution with opera singer Marina Viotti while perched on the side of a castle.
Below, you can watch the Grammy-nominated heavies perform a suitably crushing version of "Ah! Ça Ira," reworked alongside French composer and producer Victor le Masne, per The New York Times.
The performance was prefaced by a decapitated Marie Antoinette before the camera pulls back for a wide angle of castle windows filled with headless figures dressed in red, as Gojira lean into their trademark, punishing sound while pyro is set alight.
Viotti then makes her entrance on a boat with shimmering sails in front of the band's castle perches before red confetti is launched from the building.
In a phone interview, Gojira vocalist-guitarist Joe Duplantier told The Times of the song choice, "It was a very bloody era of French history, so it was very metal," adding, "The song's going to be in your face."
Gojira's most recent album is 2021's Fortitude. Later this year, the band will support Korn on a North American tour.
