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Gorguts - Obscura



8.6 | 330 votes |
Release date: 23 June 1998
Style: Avantgarde metal, Technical death metal

Owners:

282 have it
40 want it
1 trades it


01. Obscura
02. Earthly Love
03. The Carnal State
04. Nostalgia
05. The Art Of Sombre Ecstasy
06. Clouded
07. Subtle Body
08. Rapturous Grief
09. La Vie Est Prelude
10. Illuminatus
11. Faceless Ones
12. Sweet Silence

Line-up
Luc Lemay - vocals, guitars, viola (2)
"Big" Steeve Hurdle - guitars, vocals
Patrick Robert - drums
Steve Cloutier - bass

Additional info
Recorded and mixed at Studio Victor in Montréal.
Mastered at Fashion Sound Production.
Produced by Pierre Remillard and Gorguts.

Music by - Lemay (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 7 to 10, 12), Hurdle, Cloutier (tracks: 2 to 5, 7 to 12).
Lyrics by - Lemay, Hurdle.

Re-released on double LP in 2012 by War on Music.

Guest review by
tuerda
Rating:
9.4
It's hard to know where to begin with Gorguts's Obscura. This album is one of the strangest pieces of music I have ever listened to. What others have said about it tends to vary between people who claim that it isn't music at all, but just an hour of random noises, to people who claim that it is the greatest metal album of all time. I tend to side with the latter, but it is hard not to have some sort of sympathy for the former.

Read more ››
published 29.06.2006 | Comments (17)

Found in 41 lists
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Comments

Comments: 24   Visited by: 926 users
27.07.2010 - 02:16
Rating: 10
Got Mayhem?
Quite possibly the most insane yet very coherent album ever made. Luc Lemay is an idol of mine and this album is a shining example of why this is. Every single aspect of Obscura is unreal. From the dissonant guitar work, to the stunning bass, to the inhuman drumming, this is a masterpiece of insanity.

Bow to the masters of completely original death metal
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01.05.2011 - 12:54
Rating: 10
Horus
Death metal in its most perfect form
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29.12.2011 - 20:12
Nosurper
Stinky Lips
It is impossible to find this album for purchase, it's very frustrating
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30.12.2011 - 15:27
Rating: 7
I_Die_Often
My wife to be was going to buy this for me!
I wouldn't let her... cost too damn much!
Why can't they reissue this? There seems to be enough demand for it.
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Old enough to be your Daddy... speaking of which... you look familiar... do I know your mother???
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13.05.2012 - 15:51
Rating: 3
Zombie94
I don't get it. Far too long, too chaotic and devoid of any groove or rhythm for my taste. Every song on this was a headache to listen to, bar 'Nostalgia'.
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16.05.2012 - 01:25
Rating: 9
Boxcar Willy
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Written by Zombie94 on 13.05.2012 at 15:51

I don't get it. Far too long, too chaotic and devoid of any groove or rhythm for my taste. Every song on this was a headache to listen to, bar 'Nostalgia'.

Surely it doesn't deserve a 3 though?

I think you're trying too hard, just sit back and let it play
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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17.11.2012 - 02:48
Illog1cal
Account deleted
I definitely think this is one the most innovative pieces of art ever created, it avoids falling flat on its face which a lot of artists trying to produce groundbreaking work often do. However I often feel like it repeats itself occasionally, the same ideas from the beginning of the album are heard once again near the end. This holds me back from giving a 10.
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12.01.2013 - 00:18
Rating: 9
king_matt
Written by [user id=130590] on 17.11.2012 at 02:48

I definitely think this is one the most innovative pieces of art ever created, it avoids falling flat on its face which a lot of artists trying to produce groundbreaking work often do. However I often feel like it repeats itself occasionally, the same ideas from the beginning of the album are heard once again near the end. This holds me back from giving a 10.

I agree completely.
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http://www.last.fm/user/King_Matt
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26.06.2013 - 18:38
Rating: 10
Diverge
So many current death metal bands should be giving Gorguts royalties.
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26.06.2013 - 19:51
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Written by Diverge on 26.06.2013 at 18:38

So many current death metal bands should be giving Gorguts royalties.

Not really. Perhaps the likes of Ulcerate, Diskord, Baring Teeth and a handful of others owe something directly to them, but very few death metal bands adopt the avant-garde approach seen here. Influential perhaps, but certainly not to the point where bands should be paying royalties.
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19.10.2015 - 17:08
Rating: 9
musicalkaratekid
Without question the band's tour-de-force, though it is sometimes matched in quality by the next two albums. My highlights from this would be the title track, "Earthly Love" and "The Sombre Art of Ecstasy". The whole album is consistently brilliant however, so you could virtually pick any song as a favourite. It gets a little similar towards the end, but not enough for it to lose any credibility.
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23.11.2016 - 21:16
Jaeryd
Nihil's Maw
Just listened to this album for the first time today. Some really weird shit. I think I like it, but I need more spins before I can really figure out what's going on.
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20.03.2017 - 06:18
Rating: 9
Sang Dalang Abu
This is complex, this is chaotic, this is cryptic, this is Insane. Ok for the first time I was hate it.
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02.08.2017 - 20:33
Rating: 10
Roberto23
Written by Zombie94 on 13.05.2012 at 15:51

I don't get it. Far too long, too chaotic and devoid of any groove or rhythm for my taste. Every song on this was a headache to listen to, bar 'Nostalgia'.

trust me i know its really chaotic, and it may not seem like it has a groove like slipknot, or a system of a down (just something that is easy to follow). But that is sorta the beauty of the album. It is so weird, complex, and a challenge to any experienced music listener to understand fully what is going on during the songs. You might just need to sit back and let yourself be swallowed up by the wall of sounds.
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18.09.2017 - 04:26
Rating: 3
Zombie94
Written by Roberto23 on 02.08.2017 at 20:33

trust me i know its really chaotic, and it may not seem like it has a groove like slipknot, or a system of a down (just something that is easy to follow). But that is sorta the beauty of the album. It is so weird, complex, and a challenge to any experienced music listener to understand fully what is going on during the songs. You might just need to sit back and let yourself be swallowed up by the wall of sounds.

I enjoy a lot more complex music than Slipknot and SOAD haha, I enjoy a lot of death metal. At the time I posted that comment I couldn't really hear what was going on, it all just sounded like noise. My ear's more trained now and I can pick out the riffs but this album just doesn't appeal to me.
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18.09.2017 - 08:07
Rating: 10
Roberto23
Written by Zombie94 on 18.09.2017 at 04:26

Written by Roberto23 on 02.08.2017 at 20:33

trust me i know its really chaotic, and it may not seem like it has a groove like slipknot, or a system of a down (just something that is easy to follow). But that is sorta the beauty of the album. It is so weird, complex, and a challenge to any experienced music listener to understand fully what is going on during the songs. You might just need to sit back and let yourself be swallowed up by the wall of sounds.

I enjoy a lot more complex music than Slipknot and SOAD haha, I enjoy a lot of death metal. At the time I posted that comment I couldn't really hear what was going on, it all just sounded like noise. My ear's more trained now and I can pick out the riffs but this album just doesn't appeal to me.

Oh yeah I understand that 100%. It honestly took me a pretty long time to even understand what people were talking about in relation to this album. and the hype surrounding it...
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07.11.2020 - 01:08
Desha
delicious dish
I just fucking realized today that the cover is an old man in like a meditation position and not some pig man with giant bone clubs

That's the whole album ruined now
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You are the hammer, I am the nail
building a house in the fire on the hill
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07.11.2020 - 11:34
Rating: 10
RaduP
CertifiedHipster
Staff
Written by Desha on 07.11.2020 at 01:08

I just fucking realized today that the cover is an old man in like a meditation position and not some pig man with giant bone clubs

That's the whole album ruined now

You just had to ruin it for everybody too.
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Do you think if the heart keeps on shrinking
One day there will be no heart at all?
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07.11.2020 - 12:05
Desha
delicious dish
Written by RaduP on 07.11.2020 at 11:34

Written by Desha on 07.11.2020 at 01:08

I just fucking realized today that the cover is an old man in like a meditation position and not some pig man with giant bone clubs

That's the whole album ruined now

You just had to ruin it for everybody too.

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry
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You are the hammer, I am the nail
building a house in the fire on the hill
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07.11.2020 - 17:09
Rating: 7
Metal Diogenes
Written by Desha on 07.11.2020 at 01:08

I just fucking realized today that the cover is an old man in like a meditation position and not some pig man with giant bone clubs

I like to think they designed the cover to be like that on purpose, like they have something to say about meditating old people being like pig men with giant bone clubs. Hidden meaning, symbolism and stuff.
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You've got a lot of guts. Let's see what they look like!
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07.11.2020 - 19:25
Desha
delicious dish
Written by Metal Diogenes on 07.11.2020 at 17:09

I like to think they designed the cover to be like that on purpose, like they have something to say about meditating old people being like pig men with giant bone clubs. Hidden meaning, symbolism and stuff.

Really makes you think
----
You are the hammer, I am the nail
building a house in the fire on the hill
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29.04.2021 - 14:25
Rating: 9
nonZero
Fans of Gorguts should check out Cryptomnesia - https://tornfleshrecords.bandcamp.com/album/primordial-oddity

Underrated Instrumental Progressive/Technical Death Metal
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Top 500 Albums (ordered & rated)
Top 200 Overlooked Albums (with genres)
So I Heard You Like Wintersun... (Time II find new bands)
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08.09.2022 - 11:48
Rating: 6
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Contributor
This is probably one of the most technical, complex, and groundbreaking tech death releases of all time, although that doesn't necessarily mean I really like it all that much. Some parts of the album I really do like such as the track "Nostalgia", but there are way too many parts that go over the top on the technicality a wee bit for me.
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09.08.2023 - 21:11
Rating: 9
Boxcar Willy
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
This and the debut are both fantastic in their own totally different ways. The bass and drumming in this album are totally incredible.
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14:22 - Marcel Hubregtse
I do your mum

DESTROY DRUM TRIGGERS
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