Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier looked out at the tens of thousands of heavy metal fans stretched out before him at Discovery Park in Sacramento and clearly liked what he saw.

“It’s good to be back to our favorite (expletive) festival in the United States — Aftershock,” the vocalist-guitarist said.

Basically, he summed up what everyone in the house — or, umm, field — was thinking: It was indeed so incredibly great to be back and rocking to four days of heavy music at the mighty Aftershock Festival.

The 2025 affair, which kicked off on Thursday and continued through Sunday, was once again loaded with top attractions — from pop-punk icons Blink-182 and U.K. metalcore champs Bring Me the Horizon to shock-rocker Rob Zombie and Sacramento alt-rock heroes Deftones — as well as a slew of rising stars, young talents and other worthy acts lower down on the bill.

And, of course, there was Gojira — which made Saturday the true can’t-miss date of the four-day run.

The incredible French band, which blends technical-death, progressive and groove metal styles, delivered an equally punishing and fascinating hourlong set that easily topped anything else we saw that day at Aftershock.

Kicking off with “Only Pain” — one of a four songs from the band’s sixth full-length, 2016’s “Magma,” to make Saturday’s setlist — Gojira would go on to powerfully illustrate why it’s the greatest metal band in the world not named Metallica.

The music was fiercely muscular, but with nuisance and depth. Propelled by the nearly unbelievably fast and heavy playing of Mario Duplantier — Joe’s brother, who is absolutely as good a drummer as you’ll find in metal history — the music comes at listeners in dense but distinct layers, offering up so much to both enjoy and, if you care to go to the effort, study.

While the drummer is the musical star of the show, the rest of the band is also top-notch — with Joe Duplantier mixing roars and melodies in seamless fashion as he wails away as part of a electric guitar team with Christian Andreu and bassist Jean-Michel Labadie holds the whole precisely tuned mechanism together.

It’s the same four guys who have been rocking in Gojira from the very start of their recording career — going back to the 2001 debut “Terra Incognita” — and that type of familiarity, earned through countless gigs, bus rides and late nights, certainly pays huge dividends in the way they are able to so cohesively blend their styles on the stage.

Gojira served as one of the main support acts on Saturday, just below Korn and Bad Omens in the running order. Next time the group plays Aftershock, however, I fully expect them to top the bill.

Gojira has more than paid its dues and built a massive fan base through tours with Deftones, Korn and, most significantly, Metallica. Then there was that hugely buzzed-about performance during the opening ceremonies at the 2024 French Olympics.

Yet, the group hasn’t released a new studio album since 2021’s brilliant “Fortitude.” But when Gojira does eventually issue a follow-up, I follow expect the group to capitalize on all that they have accomplished, top the album charts and finally transform into arena-level headliners in the U.S.

You heard it here first, metal fans.

The second best set from Saturday also came courtesy of a European troupe — Germany’s Powerwolf — which certainly made quite an impression during its Aftershock debut.

Led in light-hearted fashion by the big-voiced Attila Dorn — who studied classical opera at an academy in Bucharest — Powerwolf delivered an over-the-top horror show productions that drew equally from the power metal genre and ’80s hard rock. And the crowd was incredibly into the show, chanting the band’s name and waving thousands of hands in the air as the group rocked through “Dancing With the Dead,” “Bless ’em With the Blade,” “We Drink Your Blood” and other songs that will never be covered on “American Idol.”

Demon Hunter also was fantastic, showcasing the type of insightful and inspiring lyricism and intriguing mix of heavy music styles that has made the Seattle act so worthwhile following over the past 20-plus years.

August Burns Red was another winner, serving up a cool set of melodic metalcore, while Slaughter to Prevail showed that it really has nothing to offer besides volume and aggression. Kittie, as expected, provided plenty of highlights, especially when sisters Morgan and Mercedes Lander would share vocal work on the same song.

Korn drew the biggest contingent of fans — some of which actually wore corn outfits — and closed Day 3 of the festival with a 90-minute set that included “Falling Away From Me,” “Coming Undone” and other nu-metal favorites.

Blink-182 performs on the Aftershock Stage during the first day of the Aftershock Music Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento on Oct. 2, 2025. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald) 

Gojira setlist:
1. “Only Pain”
2. “The Axe”
3. “Backbone”
4. “Stranded”
5. “Flying Whales”
6. “The Cell”
7. “Born for One Thing”
8. “Another World”
9. “Silvera”
10. “Mea culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)”
11. “Amazonia”

Adam Lazzara swings the microphone as he sings with Taking Back Sunday on the Aftershock Stage during the first day of the Aftershock Music Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento on Oct. 2, 2025. (Chris Riley/Times-Herald)