The Link was originally released in late 2003 by French label Boycott Records in France only. Luckily, Listenable Records recognized the unique character of Gojira and decided to sign them.
To bridge the gap in time to the new album The Link will be re-released worldwide. A review of the 2003 release can be found here so I will just focus on the differences of the two releases.

First of all, the album is completely remixed and re-mastered and the most noticeable difference is the sound of the drums. On the 2003 release the drums were of course present but not as present as on the 2005 release, the drums sound a lot better and more in the foreground. As a whole the sound is a lot bigger so a very good job done. The tracks themselves have not been tampered with except for “Remembrance” which lost half of its outro and “Dawn” which gained about half a minute of singing birds to its outro.

To appeal to the people unknown to Gojira and to tease the fans into buying the album there will be a DVD included in the package, containing an excerpt of their live DVD which will also be re-released by Listenable this year. The promo doesn’t contain the DVD so I can’t tell you anything about it but I’m sure that it will be interesting to see this talented band at work on stage. I gave the original release of The Link a rating of 8 out of 10 and looking back I think it was too low. I listened to the album a lot in the past and the newer version is even more enjoyable not even taking into mind the extra DVD so the rating should be adjusted accordingly.

According to the label Gojira is already making a name for themselves in France and I think the rest of Europe and the World is also ready for their freaky groovy alternative metal. Keep your eyes open for the new album, scheduled for September this year.