Dienstag, 28. August 2018

gorguts - considered dead

gorguts became one of my most respected bands since i have their masterpiece "obscura" in my collection. the works of the band are never easily digested but so rich in detail and sophisticated musicianship, that a gorguts record will always be a pleasure for the ears. i own all their post-"obscura" records and couldn't decide which one might be better. "from wisdom to hate", "colored sands" and "pleiades' dust" are proof of the uniqueness of this canadian prog death monster around band leader luc lemay.
but there is also a pre-"obscura" era. a period in the early nineties where gorguts were part of a flourishing scene which chose to call their music death metal. a time where bands like death, obituary, deicide or suffocation were releasing milestones of the genre. right into this time frame, maybe when the death metal hype peaked, gorguts released their debut "considered dead". they even got a record deal with roadrunner records, the label all the aforementioned bands released their stuff on.
i don't how the album was recieved back then but when i am listening to this re-issue now, i assume it was quite successful. it ticks all the right boxes for a death metal fan of the time. it is a solid effort which doesn't show any hints of the brilliancy to come, though. still, i really enjoy it. the presentation by listenable does the original justice. only the back of the sleeve got a work-over that ties in with original very well. i love the cover art by dan seagrave here. 500 copies on clear blue with black smoke vinyl. listenable records. 2018.