The Erosion of Sanity

Ahh, Gorguts. The amazing, pioneering Tech-Death metal band from Montreal. You left most of us very confused with your Obscura record, and many more of simply amazed by the sheer amount of versatility mixed in with the brutality of the thick, dissonant chords and riffs.

But enough about Obscura, this is The Erosion of Sanity, and boy, does it ever live up to it's name. From the demonic vocals and crushing riffs of the first track, to the completely insane atonal riffing that coincides with the simply extravagent piano piece of introduction of track 2 (which also reappears in a slightly jumbled up manner, along with the guitars), this really is completely insane music, but not at the same time, completely marvellously technical.

The first thing I'd like to mention is the guitars. There are two guitar players in Gorguts, which opens doors for incredible amounts of technicality and just plain kick-ass riffing. There are very well-balanced solos, which combine a great amount of technicality and beautiful melody, as well as brutally disgusting sounding riffs, and they are just plain awesome.

The drumming of this album is no laughing matter, either. There are few blast beats, which seem to be too common of a factor in todays technical death metal scene (ORIGIN, DECREPIT BIRTH, ETC). Instead, there are very complex rhythms and time signatures to go along with the complexity of the guitars. The drummer might not be a Flo Mounier or Neil Peart, but he is certainly up there.

The production of this album is truly amazing, especially for the time it came out. Completely drenched in bass, but not so much that you cannot understand what the band is doing.

The vocals of this album really stand out as well. They will take some getting used to, but rest assured, they aren't your typical *grunt grunt moan*. They are almost like a mix of John Tardy and Frank Mullen, except a lot raspier. Another great thing, is you can (most of hte time) understand what he's saying, which only makes the music scarier. But that's a good thing, right?

If you disliked Obscura, do NOT let that stop you from picking up this record ASAP. It is truly one of the greatest death metal albums, and certainly deserves more attention than the albums being given high reviews today. Pick this up if you love old school death metal, or technical music in general.