The news of a new Gorguts album was so exciting that I swallowed my criticism of the title, which I think should be “From Wisdom to Hatred.”
Gorguts was a straightforward death metal band in the early days, exemplified by the album “Considered Dead” which is still solid after all these years. I heard the demo that led to the band getting signed, and it was unrecognizable because it was muddy and thoroughly indistinct. The person who signed the band either was a master who could peer through the bad production and see a gem, or there was hype about the band and it was wise to take a chance.
Eventually, Gorguts took bold chances in structure, timing, and complexity. I was lucky enough to catch them at a show after which I talked to members bout the changes. I applauded the dynamic style, and the vocalist agreed that the songs were not linear, and the volume levels were not always the same within the songs. Of course, this was before the trend of maximizing and compressing the audio so that there was no longer a visible waveform that could be seen in audio software; modern music favors each song to look like a brick in such programs. There are no peaks and valleys in such production. It’s an artificial volume boost, so-to-speak.
I didn’t check the waveform for this album because the only thing that should matter to you is that the band is still one of the reigning champions of experimental death metal.
The album is available from MDD Records, a German label that I had not heard before this release. Fear not; the album has good distribution and you should be able to find it easily.
If you are new to Gorguts, then you might need to graduate from other, less adventurous death metal first. This is not something that makes you tap your feet, and you must invest time because not much of the material is easy to remember. Listening to this album is like a puzzle. You can try to predict how riffs will resolve or abruptly change, but you will probably be wrong. If this is an experience that you think you will relish, then yes, feel free to try this without previous exposure to such music.
There is something for every musician to savor, except maybe a keyboard player, ha ha, even though there is s sprinkling of synthesizer.
Not all is wacky. There are phrases that are very easy to follow and that provide what one usually seeks in solid death metal, but this band is of a high class that might lose you if you seek blind aggression, mosh parts, or your mother.
