The original lineup of the band featured Luc Lemay (guitar/vocals), Sylvain Marcoux (guitar), Eric Giguere (bass) and Stephane Provencher (drums) in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. They recorded a demo in 1990 entitled ...and Then Comes Lividity, and then in 1991 released Considered Dead on Roadrunner, their first full-length album. The release featured a guest guitar solo by James Murphy and guest vocals by Chris Barnes. Two years later in 1993, they released their second full-length, entitled The Erosion of Sanity. Similar in style to their debut, this album had showed Gorguts had indeed developed in musicianship. However, this album was overlooked and became an unheard classic for many years.
The band fell silent for five years. Many assumed Gorguts was no more, until 1998 when Luc Lemay unveiled a new lineup and unleashed a classic in avant-garde death metal, Obscura, which many will agree is the most technical, chaotic and downright lucid metal album ever recorded. Filled with irregular beats, discordant riffing, and complex song arrangements, Obscura turned out to be either indigestible by many, or seen for its true beauty by few. Three years later, Gorguts returned once again with From Wisdom to Hate. Some consider this release to be a digression from Obscura, but it was still much in the same avant-garde/technical vein. Dan Mongrain of Martyr was recruited for the second guitarist on this album, contributing to the writing process and lead guitar work as well.
After being out of print for many years, Roadrunner Records re-released their first two albums on a single disc, and Galy Record re-released their 1990 demo along with many other demo tracks throughout the years. In October 2002, drummer Steve MacDonald hanged himself after suffering from years of depression. The band split up in 2005 and reformed in 2008.
As of December 2008, a demo track of Gorguts featuring guitar and programmed drums which was previously unheard by the public surfaced online, and Lemay himself confirmed an upcoming reunion featuring Colin Marston, Kevin Hufnagel and John Longstreth. While the new Gorguts has been performing live and writing new material, Lemay stated that the band would not be entering the studio until the "late fall" of 2010.
The band is currently signed to Season of Mist. The band's fifth album, Colored Sands, was released on August 30, 2013, although it was released digitally a month earlier after a leak of the material online. A concept album about the history of Tibet, Colored Sands was rapturously received in many publications and appeared in many year-end best-of lists. The band cited Porcupine Tree and Opeth as influences on the album's lengthier compositions, as well as Dmitri Shostakovich and Krzysztof Penderecki on its neoclassical string interlude "The Battle of Chamdo".
In 2014, John Longstreth, whose schedule with Origin was incompatible with Gorguts, departed the band. His replacement, Patrice Hamelin, had already been performing live with Gorguts since 2011. In 2015, Obscura, which had been out of print on CD for decades, was re-released by both Century Media and Season of Mist. It also received a new vinyl pressing from Season of Mist (it had previously been released on vinyl by War on Music). Century Media also reissued From Wisdom to Hate (also previously released on vinyl by War on Music) on vinyl. A two-CD set of both albums was issued by Mazzar Records in 2016.
The band's first EP, Pleiades' Dust, was officially released on May 13, 2016. A concept album about the House of Wisdom in Baghdad during Europe's Dark Ages, it consists of a single track divided into seven movements. The band cited Deathspell Omega as a musical influence this time around. Reception thus far has been almost unanimously positive.
Disincarnated
Gorguts Lyrics
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Where your soul will be
When you'll lie to rot
Die physically
Being so fascinated
By those mysteries
I've began some weird
I saw a light
In front of me
It blinked my eyes
Invited me in
Forever will shine
This tremendous light that drives me blind
When I got behind
Control was no longer mine
Meeting those who dies
Those who've been here before I arrived
I should have stayed behind
Only incarnation can now bring me back
To mankind
I'm where souls are lost
For eternity
I shall never come back
To reality
The lyrics to Gorguts's song "Disincarnated" delve into a macabre exploration of the afterlife. The singer contemplates where their soul will end up after they physically die and expresses a fascination with the mysteries of the unknown. This curiosity leads the singer to embark on a strange journey out of their body, where they see a blinding light that invites them in. They describe feeling a loss of control and meeting those who have died before them, ultimately concluding that they are now lost in eternity and will never return to reality.
The song seems to delve into the theme of death and our own mortality, questioning what happens to us after we die. The singer is intrigued by the idea of an afterlife, and the song takes on a haunting, introspective quality as it explores these dark themes. The lyrics suggest an otherworldly experience of losing control and meeting those who have gone before. The sense of disorientation and confusion invoked by the lyrics adds to the eerie, spiritual atmosphere of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Have you ever thought
Have you ever considered
Where your soul will be
Where, after death, your soul will exist
When you'll lie to rot
When your body decomposes after death
Die physically
Cease to be alive in the physical realm
Being so fascinated
Being extremely intrigued
By those mysteries
By the mysteries of the afterlife
I've began some weird
I have started to engage in peculiar activities
Out of my body
Involving experiences beyond the physical realm
I saw a light
I witnessed a bright illumination
In front of me
Directly ahead
It blinked my eyes
It caused my eyes to briefly close
Invited me in
Indicated that I was welcome to enter
Forever will shine
The bright light will always shine
This tremendous light that drives me blind
The overwhelming brightness that blinds me
When I got behind
After I entered the light
Control was no longer mine
I was no longer in control of my own actions
Meeting those who dies
Encountering those who have previously died
Those who've been here before I arrived
Individuals who had existed in the realm before my arrival
I should have stayed behind
I should not have chosen to enter the afterlife
Only incarnation can now bring me back
Reincarnation is the only way for me to return to the physical realm
To mankind
To the world of the living
I'm where souls are lost
I am in a place where souls are forever misplaced
For eternity
For an infinite amount of time
I shall never come back
I will never return to the world of the living
To reality
To the physical realm of existence
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ERIC REME GIGUERE, LUC G. LEMAY, STEPHANE ANTOENE PROVENCHER, SYLVAIN JAQUES MARCOUX
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind