Gorguts "Pleiades' Dust"

If you sit back and take stock of Gorguts' near quarter of a century's worth of releases you won't find one that comes anywhere near to trumping "Pleiades' Dust".  That's a very bold statement given the quality that is littered throughout their discography, including such gems as "Obscura" and "Colored Sands".  The fact is however that "Pleiades' Dust" is the best thing Gorguts have ever done.

It isn't flawless either, but when you hear of bass and drums being dropped in one take you have to take a step back from pointing out human foibles and simply admire the effort and gumption to try that in the first place.  You see, the process that Gorguts utilise in putting this track together is brilliant, probably best described by another review I read whereby they compared Lemay to Martin Scorsese.  He just puts his format in place, his story, his script - call it whatever you want - and lets the rest of Gorguts do whatever they fucking well like!  Naturally this only works with accomplished musicians, which luckily Gorguts have spilling out everywhere.

The barrage of bass-heavy, spiralling, rarefied, abstract and arcane death metal that Gorguts create on "Pleiades' Dust" just happens to be the most well composed piece of music you'll hear this year.  Marstons' bass work is as formidable as you'd expect, you only lose track of it when it isn't there during one of the many atmospheric interludes/intro/outros.  I read a comment on one of the sites streaming "Pleiades' Dust" from a disgruntled fan who "fell out" with the band when "Obscura" came out and as far as they were concerned the latest offering was more of that "dropped bass shit".  I am sure Luc if he had read that would be full of apologies for taking the band off in a challenging and enigmatic direction and leaving the poor fan in question crying over his Unleashed albums.

The fact is that the instrumentation on display here is sheer artistry, it isn't mean't to resemble much of anything else out there.  That's the point of music to me, after over 25 years of listening to metal I have heard my fair share of the same old same old.  At my age I want to be knocked on my arse by music not wrapped in a warm blanket and left feeling cosy and safe.

Take the drums for example, you won't hear a more proficient yet subtle performance anywhere.  Hamelin is restrained yet firm, has presence but is never smothering, he lets the other instruments breath whilst supporting them superbly.  Whether it is the tribal thuds or atmospheric "tishes" when required, Patrice does the job everytime.

Hufnagel's guitar work deserves your attention, it thoroughly earns your time as you invest it in following his lead work as it winds a serpentine path through each movement.  Texturally a perfect accompaniment to Lemay's work it should be noted also.

At the heart of it all "Pleiades' Dust" still remains a death metal record and that in itself is cause for applause because Gorguts take the map they laid down on "Colored Sands" and build on the avant-garde and downright weird sections throughout "Pleiades' Dust".  They are a band rooted firmly in the ground of death metal yet some two decades on are now producing some of the most challenging and cabbalistic music in existence today.

I could go on for paragraphs more yet about this and still never do the EP real justice because only your ears can do that.  It is without doubt the best release of the year so far and is one of the most astonishing pieces of music written in a long time.

5/5

The Links:
Bandcamp
Seasons of Mist