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Gorguts


Iceni

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I've noticed there's no thread about these renowned Quebecois death metallers, so I suppose I'll start one. Just recently I've been listening to much of their material and I'd say I enjoy them overall. However, their catalog is quite a mixed bag in my opinion, so I think it's well worth discussing.

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I honestly don't know. The thing is that they change styles pretty substantially with each album, so there isn't one that really typifies their sound. I might recommend just listening to one song from each album, and progress in chronological order.

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Re: Gorguts Their first album, Considered Dead, is their most traditional death metal album. You can hear plenty of influence from bands like Death and Pestilence, but still with that sick Gorguts spin. Their second album was much more dissonant and abstract, owing a great deal to Atrocity's Todessehnsucht. Still old school death metal, but very deep and original, really bringing out the sound that they would make their signature. With Obscura, they threw all the rules out the window, writing a challenging and fascinating masterpiece. At times creepy, morose, and depressive, at other times chaotic, brutal, and devastating, displays all manner of emotions beautifully, one of my favorite albums ever. With From Wisdom to Hate, they dialed back the insanity a bit, but that doesn't mean it's anything approaching normal. The songs use many of the same elements as Obscura, but they feel a bit more like "songs" that insane snippets from a trancelike meditation. All of their albums are fantastic, but I would maybe start with The Erosion of Sanity rather than diving headlong into the mindfuck that is Obscura. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

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Their second album was much more dissonant and abstract' date=' owing a great deal to Atrocity's Todessehnsucht. Still old school death metal, but very deep and original, really bringing out the sound that they would make their signature. [...']With From Wisdom to Hate, they dialed back the insanity a bit, but that doesn't mean it's anything approaching normal. The songs use many of the same elements as Obscura, but they feel a bit more like "songs" that insane snippets from a trancelike meditation. All of their albums are fantastic, but I would maybe start with The Erosion of Sanity rather than diving headlong into the mindfuck that is Obscura.
I like it better when the tempo slows down on The Erosion of Sanity because of the more sludgy, almost doom-ish production. The guitar just sounds cooler to me on that album when they play slow. On From Wisdom To Hate they seemed to clear it up a bit and it sort of lost some wonder for me. I listened to Obscura first; I did really love the manic jazzy tone alongside the uptempo drums and I was really hoping for more of that. As a result, From Wisdom To Hate was a bit of a disappointment for me even though musically speaking it's by no means bad.
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Re: Gorguts

I like it better when the tempo slows down on The Erosion of Sanity because of the more sludgy' date=' almost doom-ish production. The guitar just sounds cooler to me on that album when they play slow. On From Wisdom To Hate they seemed to clear it up a bit and it sort of lost some wonder for me. I listened to Obscura first; I did really love the manic jazzy tone alongside the uptempo drums and I was really hoping for more of that. As a result, From Wisdom To Hate was a bit of a disappointment for me even though musically speaking it's by no means bad.[/quote'] It's a grower, give it a chance. It took me a while to appreciate it as much as Obscura (I bought them at the same time), but I really dig it now. A bit more structured and mature, less spazzy and chaotic, but still deep and weird. Give Considered Dead a try too, if you like The Erosion of Sanity, maybe it will click with you too. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
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They're all tuneless wanking shit, for a band that sat on with Suffocation during practice sessions they write shit unmemorable riffs. But if I had to pick out of their entire worthless discography, Considered dead is the least offensive. Its boring as shit and has practically nothing in terms of memorability, but it isn't a clusterfuck of noodling like Obscura. The Erosion of Sanity is horseshit as well

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It's a grower' date=' give it a chance. It took me a while to appreciate it as much as Obscura (I bought them at the same time), but I really dig it now. A bit more structured and mature, less spazzy and chaotic, but still deep and weird. Give Considered Dead a try too, if you like The Erosion of Sanity, maybe it will click with you too.[/quote'] I did listen to a bit of Considered Dead, didn't really like it. The Erosion of Sanity went more old school but still had a handful of avant-garde elements and memorable, rhythmic riffs. Considered Dead was too old-school and started picking up traits I don't tend to care for, namely sound production that sort of muddles things. I suppose I will have to give From Wisdom to Hate a bit more time since my expectations were different. Yes, it is structured, but that's not really a reason to not have some manic discordant riffs as long as you keep the tempo. Obscura, on the other hand, was great for the first five songs. Vicious uptempo craziness in exactly the vein I was hoping for.
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They're all tuneless wanking shit' date= for a band that sat on with Suffocation during practice sessions they write shit unmemorable riffs. But if I had to pick out of their entire worthless discography, Considered dead is the least offensive. Its boring as shit and has practically nothing in terms of memorability, but it isn't a clusterfuck of noodling like Obscura. The Erosion of Sanity is horseshit as well
You ought to look into getting a thesaurus, then at least your shit posts would be easier to read.
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You ought to look into getting a thesaurus' date=' then at least your shit posts would be easier to read.[/quote'] He's keepin' it real. Well, I'm glad it elicited a laugh. I didn't really mean Dragonforce, but I had Kamelot (sexual pun?) and Sonata Arctica in mind when I wrote the joke. It's a pity, really; I would have liked a third insight into their music to help lend a new dynamism to the discussion instead of it just being me and BAN trying to muddle over minutia.
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  • 3 months later...

Just found this thread, but it's worth a bump, because the title track from their upcoming album is on Decibel/Metal Injection right now. https://soundcloud.com/decibel-streaming/gorguts-colored-sands My first impression is that it's got a great sort of lumbering, doomy vibe and a lot of the same twisted melodies you'd find in the slower songs from "Obscura". Maybe not the same speed/energy level but still just as intense. Production sounds a little too pristine (Ion Dissonance-ish) for my taste, but I know that's where the money's at right now. As far as their earlier stuff, I absolutely love "Obscura", though it took me a while to get into when I first heard it in college. The earlier two albums suffer by comparison IMO. And I still, shamefully, haven't listened to "From Wisdom To Hate".

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I must get my hands on that album. Really enjoyable' date=' though it's hard for me to find the quiet space to really appreciate that stuff lately.[/quote'] Gorguts requires your attention, that much is for sure. Check out Flourishing if you haven't, pretty awesome Gorguts sounding music, and they're from your neck of the woods: yjb1yPhaES4
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Re: Gorguts

Actually' date=' I know these guys! My old grind band played a couple of shows with them. Glad to hear they're still making an impression.[/quote'] Yeah, that album made my top 10 list in 2011. Haven't heard the new one yet, but The Sum of All Fossils was great. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
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  • 3 weeks later...

I had that Flourishing album and although I was excited by it I found no regularity in me returning to it after a couple of spins. I have heard 3 tracks off the new Goroguts and have already had one jaw dropping stop dead what I am doing and stare at speakers whilst mouthing "what the fuck" moment ("Forgotten Arrows" final section). Can't wait for this to be released - love challenging music that makes you listen to it and forces you to spend time with it to be appreciated.

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  • 1 month later...

great band, i prefer the more non-traditional albums they have by far though...not that Considered Dead is bad, but listening to the albums afterwards they really found their own sound. really excited for "Colored Sands" but why is "colored" spelt using American spelling?!? they're a Canadian band!! spell it "Coloured"!!!

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