4 out of 5

Label: Season of Mist

Produced by: Colin Marston

So, alright, Gorguts are an influential, known quantity in the death metal world, ring-led by Luc Lemay, and reformed after a pause and with technical metal-doodly wizard Colin Marston in tow, logically shifting more toward the technical metal Marston favors.  This is also my first Gorguts record, so I have no sense of the evolution of Lemay’s style, but in reading about the production of this disc and exploring – via wiki and Allmusic and etcetera – info about the band’s past releases, it’s likely that Gorguts influenced Marston, and that his joining the group is an enhancement to the path Lemay was already on.

That being said, I came to the group via Colin, and his works are definitely a touchpoint here, as our 33-minute, 7-part “song” very much has elements of Dysrhythmia’s interplay, or Behold… The Arcotopus’ breathless prog/metal fusion.  Lemay, though, brings a grounding crunch to matters, a sobering narrative concerning the spread of knowledge post the destruction of The House of Wisdom and lurches into grinding riffage.  Altogether, the group – absolutely in-sync, talented players beyond Lemay and Marston – swing the single track between these styles and through spacey prog and a middle segue of fuzzed static – keeping the majority of the runtime entrancingly menacing, headbanging, and yet, at the drop of a note or snare, momentarily majestic or beautiful.  …Until the screams kick in and we cycle back around.

Lemay has stated that he didn’t want the composition to just seem like several songs welded together, and I do believe he succeeded: the beginning is the beginning; the end is the end; and there are musical links between the sections that overall make it mostly cohesive.  However, it seems that Lemay tends to put some type of historical spin to his lyrics, telling a story, and since those are growled to un-understandable levels, I have to rely on the music to tell me this story, and that’s where I can’t quite claim to “get” it, nor am I a big fan of that aforementioned static-y part, as that feels like a stopgap for people to rest and not a necessary part of the track.  So, yes, these aren’t separate songs, but neither are they necessarily a journey so much as a go-with-the-flow experience.  That shouldn’t be discredited, as crafting a half-hour plus tune that I can listen to, and listen to, and listen to and not be exhausted by (as tends to happen with some of Marston’s other projects) is an amazing accomplishment, along with the way that Lemay and crew successfully unite so many extreme genres together.

So I’m not smart enough to herald this as the genius record other reviews are claiming, but I at least recognize it as a damn fine disc.