Gorguts is a technical death metal/avant-garde metal band that formed in 19… Read Full Bio ↴Gorguts is a technical death metal/avant-garde metal band that formed in 1989 in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. They have released five full-length albums to date, and released their first EP 'Pleiades' Dust' in 2016, which consists of a single 33-minute song. The band has experienced numerous lineup changes and musical transformations since their inception, with founding guitarist/vocalist Luc Lemay being the only remaining founding member. In 2005, following the suicide of drummer Steve MacDonald, the band broke up. Lemay later revived the band and returned with Colored Sands in 2013 and a new lineup featuring Colin Marston, Kevin Hufnagel, and John Longstreth.

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.

Obscura
Gorguts Lyrics

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Clouded by the bliss obscura
Covered by the frame of drama

Intra limpidus obscura
Limen ex nihilum...Opacitas
Trux omnillustrare...
Ex regnum de exsanguis
Lux absentia, funditus

Silenced, fragments of nostalgia
Laments, frailty of the mind

Bounded by the abyssal fence
Light cleanses the internal sense

Obscure feeling of immensity
Black Opera, unio-mystica

Vibrate, filter of emotions
Filtrate, shapeless screen unfold
Reverie, climate of energy
Blackness, centre of whiteness

Intra limpidus obscura
Limen ex nihilum...Opacitas
Trux omnillustrare...

Ex regnum de exsanguis
Lux absentia, funditus

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Gorguts's song "Obscura" present a surreal and abstract exploration of the human psyche. The first two lines suggest a sense of confusion and entrapment, with the singer feeling overwhelmed by the combination of happiness and drama in their life. The use of the word "obscura" implies a sense of darkness or murkiness, which is later explored in more detail in the lyrics.

The following lines introduce a sense of liminality or in-betweenness, with the imagery of "limen ex nihilum" (threshold from nothingness) and "opacitas" (obscurity or darkness) suggesting a sense of crossing into an unknown or indistinct realm. The subsequent lines use Latin phrases to add to the otherworldly and almost hypnotic aura of the song, with "trux omnillustrare" (roughly, "to illuminate everything") and "lux absentia, funditus" (completely absent light) suggesting a sense of opposites coexisting or merging together.

The latter half of the song delves deeper into the themes of blackness, energy, and the merging of opposites. The "black opera" referenced in the lyrics could refer to the idea of a grand, macabre production taking place within the mind or soul. The lines about vibrations and filters suggest a sense of filtering out emotions and focusing on the basic building blocks of energy and sensation. The final lines are a repetition of the earlier Latin phrases, suggesting an ongoing cycle of obscurity, liminality, and the merging of opposites.

Line by Line Meaning

Clouded by the bliss obscura
Lost in a state of indescribable joy that is hard to understand

Covered by the frame of drama
Trapped in a world of theatrics and sensationalism

Intra limpidus obscura
Within the clear obscurity

Limen ex nihilum...Opacitas
Threshold of nothingness...Opacity

Trux omnillustrare...
Harshly illustrated...

Ex regnum de exsanguis
From the kingdom of the bloodless

Lux absentia, funditus
Light is deeply absent

Silenced, fragments of nostalgia
Memories of the past silenced

Laments, frailty of the mind
Regrets, weakness of the soul

Bounded by the abyssal fence
Trapped by the edge of the deep unknown

Light cleanses the internal sense
Illumination purifies the inner being