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.
Rottenatomy
Gorguts Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For an hour and fifteen days
Hopelessly searching for exits
In this lethal maze
Footsteps I have taken
Each one driving me insane
Always turning in circles
Having dropped my last piece of food
The most vital thing I never wished to loose
I slipped and found myself in a dark place like hell
At the bottom of a pit where I had fell
Surrounded by a rancid smell
Of corpses that previously fell
Among bones shredded flesh and crawling maggots
Then I knew that I shall stay there to rot
Gashes appearing everywhere
Scars I'm wishing in despair
Before maggots devoured my insides
I'll commit myself to suicide
Above me I heard people talking
Having lost my voice, I was unable to scream
They had a look and saw me lying in my knees
Then went away thinking I was deceased
Below me no one is talking
If you have your voice, just once you're screaming
Have a fast look before falling on your knees
No hope is left when you are deceased
The lyrics of Gorguts's song "Rottenatomy" express the experience of being lost and hopeless, expressed through the metaphor of being lost in a jungle that is simultaneously hostile and lethal. The persona in the song has been wandering for over two weeks, searching for a way out of this jungle, but the footsteps he takes only drive him insane, and always cause him to turn around in circles, never finding a way out. He has lost his last piece of food, and he's also lost in darkness, at the bottom of a pit. The smell around him is rancid and he finds himself surrounded by corpses, bones, shredded flesh, and crawling maggots. The persona decides he will rot there, and resigns himself to suicide.
The lyrics are an allegory for the experience of being lost and hopeless, and the despair that comes with the realization that there is no way out. The jungle can be seen as an analogy for life's challenges, which can be hostile and lethal, and wear a person down through despair and loneliness. In this sense, the lyrics of "Rottenatomy" become an anthem for those who feel lost and hopeless, and remind us that sometimes we need to acknowledge our inner demons and resign ourselves to our fate.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been lost in a jungle
I am in a dangerous and confusing place
For an hour and fifteen days
It has been an extended period of time
Hopelessly searching for exits
Trying to find a way out without success
In this lethal maze
The environment is incredibly dangerous and difficult to navigate
Footsteps I have taken
I have been walking through the jungle
Each one driving me insane
The journey is becoming mentally and emotionally taxing
Always turning in circles
Unable to make any real progress
In this hostile jungle
The jungle is actively working against my survival
Having dropped my last piece of food
The last bit of sustenance is gone
The most vital thing I never wished to loose
It was the one thing that I needed to survive
I slipped and found myself in a dark place like hell
Suddenly I am in an even worse situation
At the bottom of a pit where I had fell
I am trapped in a deep hole
Surrounded by a rancid smell
The stench is overpowering
Of corpses that previously fell
There are dead bodies all around me
Among bones shredded flesh and crawling maggots
The scene is gruesome and unsettling
Then I knew that I shall stay there to rot
I have resigned myself to death
Gashes appearing everywhere
My body is being cut open
Scars I'm wishing in despair
I am desperate for the pain to end
Before maggots devoured my insides
My body is being eaten away
I'll commit myself to suicide
I would rather end my own life than suffer further
Above me I heard people talking
I am aware of the outside world
Having lost my voice, I was unable to scream
I am unable to communicate with the people above me
They had a look and saw me lying in my knees
The people above me think that I am already dead
Then went away thinking I was deceased
I am abandoned by those who could have saved me
Below me no one is talking
There is no one around to hear me
If you have your voice, just once you're screaming
If you are in this position, you would be screaming too
Have a fast look before falling on your knees
Be careful where you step, it could be deadly
No hope is left when you are deceased
Once you are dead, there is no chance for survival
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: ERIC REME GIGUERE, LUC G. LEMAY, STEPHANE ANTOENE PROVENCHER, SYLVAIN JAQUES MARCOUX
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind