Gorguts - From Wisdom to Hate (2001)

Where Obscura had the element of surprise in its favor, a progression for Gorguts by just about any definition of the term; From Wisdom to Hate doesn't make such bold leaps and strides into the unknown, and it sort of builds a bridge between its predecessor and the more easily recognizable death metal records of their past. If anything, this record transforms the discordant, sludgy, groove inflected oddity of Obscura into a more focused, intricate, and technical experience that just doesn't feel all that out of place or unexpected. A relatively 'safe' step in reverse, if we could really dub anything that sounded like this 'safe'. Though I would not deny that the songwriting is often faster paced and busier in some instances, and that the overall construction is still quite distinct and interesting compared to the brutality-by-numbers that many of their peers were dishing out at the dawn of the new century, From Wisdom to Hate just didn't grab me as firmly as its predecessor. It's pretty good, but far from exemplary...and not the masterpiece that I've always felt eluded Gorguts.

They've still fashioned quite the balance between the jarring surges of technical whimsy and the fluidity of the bass-heavy rumbling, jangling dissonance and cleaner guitar tone than their past. Again, I got the impression that to what might seem to some a wrenching morass of turbulent ideas, is actually quite a focused, concise experience with a fair share of rewards lurking about its labyrinthine countenance. Most of the better songs arrive at the half-way point ("Unearthing the Past", "Elusive Treasures"), but the styles and riff selections are quite consistent through the 40 minutes. Some of the caustic, barking vocals from Obscura have been dialed back to their earlier style from The Erosion of Sanity; a Chuck Schuldiner with a more robust, lower pitch; hell, this might have been Death's foray into progressive sludge/death in an alternate universe. The riffs are quite thick and adventurous, maintaining some of the Escher-like post-hardcore/jazzy resonance which falls somewhere in between Neurosis, Candiria, Prong and 90s Pestilence. I felt that the album was most entertaining when it hits its most spastic, spurious strides of wild fills and busy progressions of notes that just kept battering away at your sanity ("Unearthing the Past" being a great example of this), but the 'mellower' sequences aren't poorly done themselves.

From Wisdom to Hate has a lot of passages I'd consider decent if not ultimately so memorable. The nature of this songwriting style lends itself to a frustrating amount of points at which a series of notes was compelling enough that I didn't want to hear it flushed away so quickly in favor of proving how apt Gorguts were at rhythmic acrobatics; how much the band's collective memory could retain to impress us with their mental acuity and wizard-like proficiency. I'll say that my ears perked up a lot more for the latter half of the album. Leads seem to play a more impressive role on this album than Obscura (one region where this is superior), especially in spots like the bridge of "Unearthing the Past" where the choppy rhythm mutes perfectly counteract the solo's woozy, airy splendor. The presence of guitarist Daniel Mongrain (Cryptopsy, Voivod, etc) is clearly felt in the tautness and professionalism of performance. Also, the production is quite impressive throughout, possible the best of their output to date, even if it's not incredibly different than the prior album. The corpulent bass, the kick drums, the tinnier snares, tom fills, growls and various guitar tracks all fit seamlessly here, showing a purity of purpose that was perhaps shakier when they first embarked on this more experimental jaunt.

Unquestionably, this album (like Obscura) would prove an inspiration to bands like Ulcerate who also have learned to meander from traditional death metal into a more discordant, artsy aesthetic (though not quite as successful in my opinion). Again I'd compare this to Immolation, who have a similar penchant for quirkier or unusual riffing embedding in the standard genre tropes, but From Wisdom to Hate goes a little further out of the box than those New York veterans. This was a calculable, consistent entry into that 'New Weird' of death metal, steeped in a central historical/anthropological concept as basis for the lyrical ruminations. Does it express some reticence on the part of Gorguts that, perhaps, they might have gone a little 'too far' with Obscura? I would not argue that, but still...this was not your daddy's death metal, and it's ultimately more unusual than most of what I hear even now, well over a decade after. Since we've now experienced the broadest gulf yet in Gorguts' career (as attributable to tragedy as to lack of productivity), one must wonder where Luc Lemay and his Canadian craftsmen of the arcane and obscure might take us next?

Verdict: Win [7.75/10] (disentanglement from flesh's captivity)

http://www.gorguts.com/

Gorguts - Demo Anthology (2003)

The concept of having quality cover art abandoned Gorguts after their sophomore effort (The Erosion of Sanity) in 1993; a pity, since they had some of the best of that generation. Perhaps they had never had the money or the desire, but suffice to say that if they couldn't make the Olympic Recordings efforts Obscura or From Wisdom to Hate the apple of anyone's eyes, a limited print demo collection through a teensy Montreal indie imprint (Galy Records) wasn't going to receive much more attention. But hey, this is Gorguts, they've got fans, and if those individuals wish to experience the band's formative late 80s material or their various album demos gathered in one place, in an official capacity, here is where it shall be done. Sadly enough, until the long awaited new hypothetical record arrives (supposedly this year in 2013), this was the most 'recent' material I've heard from the Canadians (there's a rare Netherlands live album floating around, but I've never heard it).

I'll say up front that I'm not the sort of person who often finds the demo recordings of albums superior to the later album cuts, which I tend to assume are the manifestation of the band's real vision for the material. It DOES happen, and certainly some of the 'official' versions are trumped by the more raw, energetic demos which possess a more authentic, visceral aesthetic. Gorguts' Demo Anthology is not such a case, and the later material sounds polished enough that I'd might as well listen to the album anyway. Differences are, at best, cosmetic. The Erosion cuts like "Hideous Infirmity" and the title track definitely sound suppressed, as if they were going for those muffled Morrisound chugging guitars to follow up closely with the debut, but probably the only curiosity among these is "Dissected the Adopted", a 1992 demo that was later renamed "Orphans of Sickness" for the sophomore; and only for that reason. The first album offerings like "Haemotological Allergy" and "Considered Dead" itself naturally sound the most raw due to their transfer, but I have to say that I did actually dig the more resonant atmosphere, the very pluggy and distinguished bass; a pretty live/rehearsal vibe happening there if just for the age.

By far the most attractive material here was the full 1990 demo ...And Then Comes Lividity, if I'm not mistaken their second (but the two tunes on the original are recycled for this), and it's a sweet deal due to the presence of non-album material. Surprisingly, this is not your usual thrash evolution of a death metal band, but the same straight up clinical, morbid songwriting style that made its way onto Considered Dead. Vocals were pretty close to Chuck Schuldiner in approach, perhaps a little deeper; bass is swarthy, bustling and just as loud as the rhythm guitars, which shift between chugging grooves and flights of tremolo or bristling melody from a mortuary slab. Though the demo shows its age, it was incredibly tight and consistent through the 15 minutes, and no question largely responsible for their Roadrunner signing during the death metal boom. All the songs are good, and the recording, by Obliveon guitarist Pierre Rémillard, was to me just as clear and quality as the studio work for the debut. 

In short, ...And Then Comes Lividity a treat, and if you're interested in purchasing or auctioning a copy of Demo Anthology, it's going to come down to wanting this and not being content with a download of just the demo. Otherwise, I can't say that this is a highly effectual collection; none of the later material was interesting to listen to anymore than the updated renditions on the albums. Sort of a waste of space, and drags down the overall value of the anthology; but hey, that one demo was pretty good.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

http://www.gorguts.com/

Gorguts - Obscura (1998)

It was inevitable that, having reached critical mass, death metal would have ventured into more experimental territory, crossing over into new and other/otherworldly realms of sound, but while today's market has seen an explosion of such feats, the 90s were largely a different story. I can now reach into a hat and draw out names like Ulcerate, Baring Teeth, Flourishing, Portal, as obvious examples, all more or less relevant as successors to the record I'm about to review, but in 1998, were there a lot of precedents? Demilich, Supuration, maybe some of Disharmonic Orchestra's material, but by and large the emphasis of the genre was to push the underlying precepts faster and harder, to twist the knobs of brutality to their limits, to shock and appall both the built-in audience and ensure those 'outside the circle' would never opt into it.

Canada's Gorguts was already on a firm path to cementing itself as a sold second stringer in this bloodsport, putting a slight twist on the Floridian fundamentals of Death, Morbid Angel and Obituary with a few nods to the Dutch and New York scenes, when they decided not to merely shake themselves from their yoke, but to neigh, whinny, and trample the fucking thing to pieces. Considered Dead and The Erosion of Sanity were both albums I'd considered quite good, if not entirely worthy of the worship retrospectively heaped upon them in later generations, but Obscura was truly the moment where, in my universe, Gorguts became 'a thing' unto itself. No longer a band that I'd simply recommend to those seeking out sounds similar to the superior works of their forebears, but a 'you HAVE to hear this' entity. Clearly, having already emptied the beer fridge on the right side of their collective brains, Gorguts were finally sampling from the right side, and this translated into a jarring, compelling, out of body, out of your freakin' mind experience which drew upon elements of jazz, funk, sludge, drone, and post-hardcore as relishes to its gruesome vocal theatrics and the strange, almost Lovecraftian occult poetry of its lyrics.

Where do I even start with this goddamned thing? I think one characteristic of Obscura which has always stood tall to my ears was that it gives off this unusual impression of being 'messy' or squamous sounding, when in fact it is so rigidly defined and precise in structure and execution. Death metal is but the framework from which its swerving, thrusting, jabbing and churning limbs emerge. Let's be honest: without the Gorguts logo on the cover, it might has well been another/new project for Luc Lemay and crew. There is a direct linearity to the vocals, perhaps, but here they've been fleshed out between Martin van Drunen-styled open growls and more creepy, blunt and tortured guttural howls that give the impression of some wounded beast tracking across a sucking swamp, its blood mingling with the stinking, nutrient-rich swill of its waters. Totally fucked when you contrast the timbre with the more fitful, yet depressing prose of the lyrics, and certainly more 'charismatic' than the performances on either of the earlier records, though I can indeed understand why they might turn off some listeners anticipating a more conservative gurgle.

But the vocals are, strangely, the LEAST unique component to this bludgeoning Escher as it lifts itself from the gallery wall and chases the artsy staff around intent on their consumption. The guitars here are out of this world! Hypnotic and dissonant leaden grooves saturated with creepy higher string patterns so often redolent of Eastern mystique; like having Immolation perform in unison with snake charmers. Scads of strings being stretched, warped, bounced, throttled, and bent into incalculable forms. Tapping rituals (like in "Obscura" itself) abound. You've still got the recurrent pinches and squeals so important to provide that 'cartoon' level of intensity amongst the brutal death metal regulars, but they very much fuck around with the conventions to provide a more 'popping' resonance, such as the intro to "Faceless Ones" or the mesmeric atonal spikes in the bridges of "Sweet Silence". The rhythm tone is a bit cleaner than usual, and combined with the discordant writing it brings to mind post-punk/noise rock units like Barkmarket, Zeni Geva or the Unsane, but fear not, because aesthetically, it's far heavier than the stock, underwhelming Morrisound production on the debut.

Another immensely important player here was bassist Steve Cloutier, whose tone is just as loud and present as the rhythm guitar. He anchors each groove with thick, poignant plucking that would rival any shitty nu metal outfit, and at times comes off like a jazzier, hammering Blacky (circa Voivod). The lines don't stray heavily from Lemay and Steeve Hurdle's pondiferous drudgery, but they're just so dense and well conceived that I could probably listen to the guy playing along to Patrick Robert's beats in "The Art of Sombre Ecstasy" or the phenomenal "Earthly Love", and still be as fully entertained as I am by several of the older Primus records. As for Robert: where was this guy hiding before, and where has he been since? Though it helps that the production of the bass drum and snare is so clear and concise, the guy can seamlessly thread blast beats or double kick fragments into various unusual time signatures and phrases, while keeping a sort of tribal vibe all along. If a university campus in the lost city of R'lyeh had its own hippie drum circle meeting at night with peace pipes to lament their psionic oppression at the hands of the Old Ones, this man would be it.

If I have one complaint about Obscura, it's simply that being clocked at an hour (with twelve tracks), the disc in summation seems overlong. A handful of the groove riffs dispersed throughout feel somewhat redundant to others, even if they aren't technically the same, and the better tempos and note progressions could have been condensed to the point that perhaps two tracks were cut off, tightening it to about 50 minutes of material. Also, the sputtering intensity of the viola used in "Earthly Love" is so brilliant that I rue the decision not to use it elsewhere throughout the track list. Alien guitar synths (as those on Pestilence's divisive Spheres) or proggy keyboards wouldn't have hurt the record in becoming even MORE unreal and otherworldly, at the risk of pissing off the purists who hate those sorts of dressings. Also, I really wish there were more whipping, wild lead sequences spat forth throughout (like that in "Subtle Body"), or perhaps some jazzier fusion guitar scriptures worked over the roiling rhythm chords. As far as Obscura goes outside the genre's comfort zone, there are moments I wish it went even further...

But apart from those quips, I would not hesitate to dub this one of the more interesting (and one of the best) death metal works of the later 90s, and the surreal, experimental lyrics are just icing on the cake, whether they be experimenting with Latin (the title track), spiritual chemistry, sorrow or undeath. The album isn't immediately inaccessible to the point that it turns away those who would listen to it, but its puzzle of barks and howls, repugnant bass/rhythm guitar twists and turns and tubes (like a sonic aorta), and magnanimously cluttered (on purpose) drumming has proved rewarding. Fifteen years later, I'm still getting something new out of this record across occasional listens, and it's Gorguts' crowning creation to date.

Verdict: Win [8.75/10] (the epitome of a comfortless epoch)

http://www.gorguts.com/

Gorguts - The Erosion of Sanity (1993)

Some will undoubtedly balk at my close comparisons of the Gorguts debut Considered Dead to its painfully obvious Florida influences, in a courageous effort to deflect reality, but I drew those comparisons for a very good reason. When the time came around for the band to produce their sophomore effort, the Quebec band would begin to step out from under such shadows, winding into a terrain all their own. The Erosion of Sanity is a more hungry, powerful effort, than the debut, and the effort paid off with some mildly more memorable songwriting. The band still honors their influences here, but you can start to hear the more shit kicking extremity of upper East Coast acts like Suffocation and Immolation creep into their sound.

The result is a more dynamic and impressive disc, and Gorguts were beginning here to edge beyond some of their more lackluster peers. "With Their Flesh He'll Create" ranges from an explosive cycle of grinding and chugging to a few breakdowns, thick bass flying everywhere. "Condemned to Obscurity" has a manic intro, the low end strumming below the clinical arithmetic of Luc Lemay and Sylvain Marcoux, a lurching juggernaut of body parts that twist into patterns of brutality. Just listen to the complex little guitars woven through the latter half of this song, and tell me that about 11,785 brutal tech death bands of the 21st century are not directly channeling these Canadians, as if by seance. "The Erosion of Sanity" features large, arching grooves; "Orphans of Sickness" a rush of caustic calamity; and "Hideous Infirmity" some of the most condensed, jerking rhythms on the entire album, and a personal favorite here. It would also be remiss not to mention the closer "Dormant Misery", for the beautiful intro of flowing clean guitars transmogrified into pumping, technical pit fuel.

The Erosion of Sanity might not feature Gorguts at their most creative, genre defying level of brilliance (that is yet to come), but it's a damn fine sounding album, one of the better efforts of its type ever fielded in Canada, and one that a lot of later acts owe a huge debt to. I often see this compared to Suffocation's Pierced Within, an album I sadly have never found any love for; and I can't say I get it, this is just a lot catchier to me. Its intensity sprints past the debut, but it does trade off a bit of Considered Dead's dark, subtle atmosphere, which I can live with. Perhaps most importantly, this album is just so much brighter sounding, due to the fact it was produced by a pop/rock guy (Steve Harris) and not Scott Burns. Overall, it's a small step forward, but a step in the proper direction, one step before the band's reconfiguration and Luc Lemay's plummet into an unexpected paradise of exalted paranoia: Obscura.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10] (limbs of those forgotten)

http://www.gorguts.com/

Gorguts - Considered Dead (1991)

Canada might not be the default metal capital of the world, but they've certainly got an answer for everything. Heavy, speed and thrash metal had all been answered from the north, and we rejoiced at the sounds of Anvil, Razor, Annihilator, Exciter and perhaps most importantly, Voivod. But when death metal began to blister and boil out of Florida, how would they respond to that? Very simply, by taking the essence of the Obituary and Death, stirring in some Pestilence, researching the chemical strands of brutality in secretive Quebecois laboratories, and then unveiling the monstrosity known as Gorguts. It's simple, really, gore + guts = Gorguts, an accumulation of subversive but blunt instruments that might very represent the first noteworthy Canadian death metal act (assuming we aren't counting the cult thrash brutes Slaughter).

Yes, this has that 'Florida' sound to it, so much so that it was even recorded at Morrisound with Scott Burns. Granted, that was a staple of the Roadrunner Records death metal stable in the 90s, but it's pretty clear that Gorguts were adopting the status quo here, and making only slight innovations on the sounds you heard from albums like Leprosy or Slowly We Rot. Thick and pummeling, low guitars, mild progressive tweaks in the songwriting formula, and Luc Lemay's tomb tapping, ghastly vocals, which are plainly influenced by Chuck Schuldiner, John Tardy and Martin van Drunen. Hell, Chris Barnes and James Murphy even make guest appearances on the album, so it's pretty clear what the Canadians were trying to achieve with this record. That said, despite an obvious level of effort, and the added personalities involved, I would not consider Considered Dead to be an A-lister of the late 80s/early 90s death metal wave.

It was appealing, and remains appealing to my own ghastly instincts today, but it simply doesn't have the same level of song power as Death or Pestilence were churning out. "Rottenatomy", "Bodily Corrupted" and "Drifting Remains" are all punchy numbers, with a degree of exploration during the bridge segments, and some excellent leads (love the one at 1:20 in "Hematological Allergy", for example), but the riffs are somewhere shy of jaw dropping. Still, there were not a hell of a lot of albums quite like this one during those times. Most of the enjoyment lies in the gestating skill of the musicians, and of course that Morrisound production. For some, that might actually be the deal breaker, but I find that albums sounding specifically like this one, Death's 1987-1990 catalog or Obituary circa 1989-90 are not too easy to locate.

If you enjoy that very dark, fat but processed sounding guitar tone with the inclusion of its thinner, surgical melodic sparks, then Considered Dead is really a given. It doesn't sound any worse for wear after 20 years, and it easily deserves a spot in your collection of Roadrunner death, right alongside Malevolent Creation's The Ten Commandments or Pestilence's Testimony of the Ancients. The lyrics are the usual festering variety, less medically inclined than Carcass, less offensive than Cannibal Corpse; the artwork is a classic Dan Seagrave, an aberration of animated bone and sinew stalking a wondrous, carnal crypt. Again, this is not the most memorable of death metal classics, but if you seek 38 minutes of old school, brutal, no frills death metal without raw sewage production, it's a reliable exit.

Verdict: Win [8/10] (try not to close your eyes)

http://www.gorguts.com/