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Gorguts "Pleiades' Dust"

MacabreEternal

By MacabreEternal
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MacabreEternal

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If you sit back and take stock of Gorguts' near quarter of a century's worth of releases you won't find one that comes anywhere near to trumping "Pleiades' Dust".  That's a very bold statement given the quality that is littered throughout their discography, including such gems as "Obscura" and "Colored Sands".  The fact is however that "Pleiades' Dust" is the best thing Gorguts have ever done.

It isn't flawless either, but when you hear of bass and drums being dropped in one take you have to take a step back from pointing out human foibles and simply admire the effort and gumption to try that in the first place.  You see, the process that Gorguts utilise in putting this track together is brilliant, probably best described by another review I read whereby they compared Lemay to Martin Scorsese.  He just puts his format in place, his story, his script - call it whatever you want - and lets the rest of Gorguts do whatever they fucking well like!  Naturally this only works with accomplished musicians, which luckily Gorguts have spilling out everywhere.

 

The barrage of bass-heavy, spiralling, rarefied, abstract and arcane death metal that Gorguts create on "Pleiades' Dust" just happens to be the most well composed piece of music you'll hear this year.  Marstons' bass work is as formidable as you'd expect, you only lose track of it when it isn't there during one of the many atmospheric interludes/intro/outros.  I read a comment on one of the sites streaming "Pleiades' Dust" from a disgruntled fan who "fell out" with the band when "Obscura" came out and as far as they were concerned the latest offering was more of that "dropped bass shit".  I am sure Luc if he had read that would be full of apologies for taking the band off in a challenging and enigmatic direction and leaving the poor fan in question crying over his Unleashed albums.

 

The fact is that the instrumentation on display here is sheer artistry, it isn't mean't to resemble much of anything else out there.  That's the point of music to me, after over 25 years of listening to metal I have heard my fair share of the same old same old.  At my age I want to be knocked on my arse by music not wrapped in a warm blanket and left feeling cosy and safe.

 

Take the drums for example, you won't hear a more proficient yet subtle performance anywhere.  Hamelin is restrained yet firm, has presence but is never smothering, he lets the other instruments breath whilst supporting them superbly.  Whether it is the tribal thuds or atmospheric "tishes" when required, Patrice does the job everytime.

 

Hufnagel's guitar work deserves your attention, it thoroughly earns your time as you invest it in following his lead work as it winds a serpentine path through each movement.  Texturally a perfect accompaniment to Lemay's work it should be noted also.

 

At the heart of it all "Pleiades' Dust" still remains a death metal record and that in itself is cause for applause because Gorguts take the map they laid down on "Colored Sands" and build on the avant-garde and downright weird sections throughout "Pleiades' Dust".  They are a band rooted firmly in the ground of death metal yet some two decades on are now producing some of the most challenging and cabbalistic music in existence today.

 

I could go on for paragraphs more yet about this and still never do the EP real justice because only your ears can do that.  It is without doubt the best release of the year so far and is one of the most astonishing pieces of music written in a long time.

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salmonellapancake Newbie

salmonellapancake

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Gorguts is known for never writing the same album twice, and Luc Lemay and his crew sure did give us something new to listen to over and over again in wonder. The album is remarkably bold in every way possible, a masterpiece of organized chaos which transcends all that death metal has to offer, technically and progressively. I highly suggest purchasing a physical copy of this record because it is something you will find yourself listening to again and again, always finding something new in the process.

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salmonellapancake Newbie

salmonellapancake

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23 minutes ago, MacabreEternal said:

Yey, another "Pleiade's Dust" fan.  Wrote a much more wordy review on my blog that said basically everything you did in 3 and a bit lines.  Still not ordered my physical copy yet though. 

I read your review and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I couldn't agree more. And yeah, I got the cd, and the case and booklet are both awesome. 

26 minutes ago, MacabreEternal said:

Yey, another "Pleiade's Dust" fan.  Wrote a much more wordy review on my blog that said basically everything you did in 3 and a bit lines.  Still not ordered my physical copy yet though. 

Btw sorry to ask but i'm new to the site: if one clicks "horns up" on a comment, then is that considered to be the equivalent of a "like"

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FatherAlabaster Grand Master

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20 minutes ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

Merged these threads since I don't believe any album, regardless of quality, deserves two threads devoted to it. Been around a year since we last did an in-depth clean up so I may get started on that over the coming weekend.

Well, now that you've put your mark on the thread about the one album that unequivocally deserves all the praise that's been heaped upon it from this past year, I guess it hardly matters what you do next...

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FatherAlabaster Grand Master

FatherAlabaster

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11 minutes ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

This is the awkward moment where I admit to only having heard one Gorguts album...

Which I hope is Obscura. Everything after that is totally worthwhile, and don't miss Negativa's self-titled EP (featuring Luc and Steeve from the Obscura lineup), which is the natural heir to that dissonant, textural sound. Colored Sands is fantastic and a great comeback for them, but it's a bit long-winded. Pleiades' Dust does everything Colored Sands wanted to do, and does it more elegantly. Fucking amazing. Seems like the kind of thing you might really enjoy, given your interest in avant garde DM.

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BlutAusNerd Newbie

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To be fair I've missed A LOT of great material by many bands. The end result of not exploring metal in a broad sense for the first decade or so enjoying metal. Playing catch-up promises to be a nigh on impossible task but I will prioritise Gorguts...Gorguts and Wormed.

Don't sweat it. Erosion of Sanity is a masterpiece, a worthy addition to any collection. The only problem with Gorguts (as if this would actually be a problem) is that their catalog contains more than one masterpiece.

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FatherAlabaster Grand Master

FatherAlabaster

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36 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said:

Don't sweat it. Erosion of Sanity is a masterpiece, a worthy addition to any collection. The only problem with Gorguts (as if this would actually be a problem) is that their catalog contains more than one masterpiece.

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I know a couple of people who really love Erosion and even one friend who swears by Considered Dead. Nothing against them, but they sound pretty stock to me, Obscura is where Gorguts really got interesting. Have you given Colored Sands and/or Pleiades' Dust a chance yet?

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BlutAusNerd Newbie

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36 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said: Don't sweat it. Erosion of Sanity is a masterpiece, a worthy addition to any collection. The only problem with Gorguts (as if this would actually be a problem) is that their catalog contains more than one masterpiece.

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I know a couple of people who really love Erosion and even one friend who swears by Considered Dead. Nothing against them, but they sound pretty stock to me, Obscura is where Gorguts really got interesting. Have you given Colored Sands and/or Pleiades' Dust a chance yet?

Considered Dead is excellent, but a bit derivative of its influences. Erosion was where they broke out and discovered themselves, and it truly is one of the best old school death metal albums out there IMO. Obscura is in another world entirely, and they've only continued to blaze down that path that they started down with Erosion to deeper and stranger territory. Other than the songs that they played live, I still haven't heard Colored Sands, and I haven't heard the new one either. There's no particular reason for this, other than the fact that I'm slow at checking out me releases.

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MacabreEternal Veteran

MacabreEternal

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"Erosion...." took a couple of spins to settle with me.  I found "Considered Dead" to be far more instant on my pallette.  "Obscura" is a lot to take in yes but is worth the effort I find.  "From Wisdom..." has always occupied a soft spot in collection, not a bad record just a bit of a step down energy wise after "Obscura".  Whilst I accept FatherA's criticism of the lengthy aspect of "Colored Sands" it still stands up as a fantastic monument of musical exploration which is only bettered by "Pleiade's Dust".

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