Gorguts
The Erosion Of Sanity

THE REVIEW

As promised in the review of “Considered Dead,” here comes the one for the subsequent masterpiece “The Erosion Of Sanity,” dated 1993. The shift compared to the previous album is clear and evident: the sounds become harsher and more grating, and the Death elements fade to make way for contaminations. Luc Lemay, this is again the name to associate with this album; the singer-guitarist is finally consecrated not only as an impeccable performer but also as an authentic musical genius. Schizophrenic and unpredictable times that change constantly in a kaleidoscope of anguish and delirium, enhanced by the screeching notes of the guitars and sealed by bass lines that clash with the guitar riffs. The result is an absolutely disharmonious album, light-years away from the Death of the early '90s and projected into an unprecedented experimentalism for the time: Cryptopsy attempted something similar in 1998 with “Whisper Supremacy,” but in the meantime, Gorguts had already released “Obscura,” further pushing the line of sonic extremism and condemning their compatriots to second place in inventiveness (even if first in technical skill).

Eight songs, rigorously fast, each one darker and rougher than the last. It’s difficult to choose a representative track, perhaps “A Path Beyond Premonition” for its dissonances and for the complexity of the structure and riffs: also to be mentioned is “Condemned To Obscurity” which, with its beautiful and haunting piano intro, leaves the listener victim to the Canadians’ sonic terrorism, best expressing the mood of the album. The technique is excellent and excels in originality and innovation of the genre's structures; the vocals are slightly lower than in the previous album, but remain fairly clean and lend the work that touch of emotion that differentiates it from other unfruitful works filled with virtuosity. Lemay delights (or tortures) us with all his rabid despair and leads us deep into a spiral of musical visions, well expressed by the lyrics (which definitively abandon the gruesome deaths of the debut), mostly delirious and irrational.

Heavy, sinister, and harsh; it is certainly an album in which to focus all our attention to uncover all its countless peculiarities and to be led into the world of the most frightening fears. Those seeking an innovative sound, those who want a Brutal Death CD (even if the definition is starting to feel narrow) of the highest quality, those who want the album that foretold the genre's contaminations, or simply those who are in search of strong emotions, must procure this album.