Metal band respond to ‘Satanic’ claims about Olympics opening ceremony performance

Heavy metal band Gojira have hit back at backlash after their performance at the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics as their lead singer laughed off the criticism.

The French rock outfit put on a memorable spectacle at the event as they performed a rendition of the 19th century song "Ah! Ça Ira" from the windows of the iconic Conciergerie Palace. One of the standout moments in the four-hour long ceremony , they were joined by the mezzo-soprano opera singer Marina Voitti for the show.

The scene around them was particularly eye-catching too, with pyrotechnics and depictions of Marie Antoinette dividing opinion among the estimated 28 million viewers watching around the world. Now, band member Joe Duplantier has dismissed comments from detractors who accused them of being "satanic".

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In an interview with Rolling Stone , the Paris-born musician was quick to hit back at these remarks, as he insisted their performance was an attempt to pay homage to the country's rich history. He said: It’s none of that. It’s French history. It’s French charm, you know, beheaded people, red wine, and blood all over the place — it’s romantic, it’s normal."

"There’s nothing satanic [laughs]," he insisted. "France is a country that made a separation between the state and religion during the revolution. And it’s something very important, very dear to the foundation of republican France. We call it laïcité. It’s when the state is not religious anymore, so therefore it’s free in terms of expression and symbolism. It’s all about history and facts.

Reflecting on the experience in spite of the comments from critics, it was clear that the death metal singer had enjoyed forming part of an evening that will live long in the memory. He said: "The amount of people that would see us live kind of eclipsed the moment. I wasn’t thinking about what it was going to be because it was just too mind-bending to think about.

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Giving some further recollections, Duplantier admitted to some surprise that the band had been asked to perform at the ceremony. While giving his reflections on the preparations that the group put in during the build-up to the ceremony, he also looked back fondly on the all-important performance.

"So the reality of the moment was absolutely mind-blowing from where we were, up there at the Conciergerie and the view we had of the scenery and all the Olympic teams, passing by on boats. It was pretty surreal… We never considered ourselves the biggest band in the world that would be worthy to play the Olympics or anything like that. It’s so weird."

He added: "We didn’t know what was going to happen at all. We just went back and forth with the composer of the Olympic ceremony , Victor le Masne. He threw us a tempo and a guideline. And then we did our thing."