History & Biography Gorguts hail from Rock Forest, which is a short distance south of the Montreal island, and was founded in 1989. Luc lemay went to school with guitarist and singer Frank Beuurrkk of Damaged, which featured drummer Stéphane Provencher. Damaged broke up and Stéphane called Luc Lemay to see if the two can connect in a band.
Gorguts' first show was on Halloween 1989 where they played covers mostly. The band was inspired by Death above all. The band released a demo called And Then Comes Lividity and quickly struck a friendship with Nancy Charland the then-girlfriend of Borivoj Krgin. The band partly used the connection and got signed almost immediately to Roadrunner Records via Krgin and A&R Monte Connor. The band’s logo underwent a transition between demo and album. A bassist, called Carlo Gozzi, came and went during this period before Giguere was recruited. Guitarist Gary Chouinard had also been replaced by Sylvain Marcoux.
The band had a true death metal delivery and got progressively more technical.
After a slew of local shows with the likes of Necrosis (later Cryptopsy), Adrenalin and Obliveon the band toured with Cannibal Corpse and Atheist. The next year saw the band tour Europe with fellow Canucks Blasphemy. Dropped after two albums by a fashion conscious Roadrunner, The band went on hiatus until finally a deal was struck with Olympic Records. The new line-up had almost released an album on Grindcore International and Pavement earlier. Serious Entertainment in Europe licensed Obscura. The From Wisdom To Hate album was licensed by Season Of Mist.
Band leader Lemay later became a student of classical music and also sang in choirs. Steve Macdonald committed suicide in 2002 after being afflicted with depression. Vargr featured Stephane Picard of Obliveon fame. The band was unofficially defunct as of late 2004, but announced plans for a 2006 DVD in late 2005 through the label of its former management, Great White North Records. The material was culled from European shows of a decade ago. In the meanwhile, former members Steeve Hurdle as well as Luc Lemay (guitar, vocals) had a new band called Negativa. Also in the band were Dominic Lapointe of Quo Vadis and Etienne Gallo of Augury on drums. The four were entering the studio in the winter of 2006 in order to record a demo. Live In Rotterdam was recorded in 1993 following the release of Erosion Of Sanity. Singer/guitarist Luc Lemay brought Gorguts back yet again in 2009. The year was the band’s twentieth anniversary. Luc had enough material for a new album. Origin and Dim Mak drummer John Longstreth was part of the new line-up. Dismember played its first concert since 2008 as the headliner at Death Feast Open Air festival on June 23rd, 2011 in Hünxe, Germany. The band was added as a replacement for Gorguts. Death To All Tour 2012 was a June benefit for Sweet Relief. This five-city USA tour would feature a number of Death’s alumni. This tour was to celebrate the life and music of Chuck Schuldiner, of Death and to raise money for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund. Gorguts was also part of the bill. Steeve Hurdle of Purulence, Negativa, and formerly of Gorguts died in June of 2012. The Canadian musician and label owner was planning a new Negativa album. Gorguts signed a deal with Season Of Mist. A new album was due the year after.
Canadian death metallers would release a new album, Colored (sic) Sands, on August 30th, 2013 through Season Of Mist. The band was playing several US shows this summer. Only LeMay was remaining from the previous line-ups with Dim Mak’s John Longstreth drumming. As of 2014, drummer John Longstreth was no longer with the band. Patrice Hamelin was in. Patrice had replaced John before. John and Gorguts’ 2014 schedule were in conflict. Gorguts was touring Japan, Australia and New Zealand in the first half of November 2014. Krisiun was co-headlining Japan. Gorguts completed the song writing for the follow-up to 2013's Colored (sic) Sands and hoped to release it in 2016. The album would comprise of one track. Canadian death metal band Gorguts released the one-track EP, called Pleiades' Dust, on May 13th through Season Of Mist. The band was touring in Europe in advance of the release of the Pleiades Dust (out May 13th) EP, which contained the eponymous 33-minute song. Gorguts kicked off its headlining North American tour together with Intronaut and Brain Tentacles in late 2016. Gorguts was touring Europe in 2017 and played at Brutal Assault Festival in Jaromer, Czech Republic.
Pallid Veil was a 2020 "stay at home" project. Gorguts announced it would reform and play a concert at Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: Philly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA in April 2023. Other acts appearing were Eyehategod, Incantation and Suicidal Tendencies. The band, Mayhem, Cannibal Corpse and Blood Incantation were to tour Canada and the USA that autumn. Gorguts picked up Deviant Process’ drummer Michel Bélanger as replacement for Patrice Hamelin who left to take care of his “business” in 2023. The band was booked for the Maryland Deathfest this year. Metal Injection festival was to feature the debut of the project Pallid Veil featuring Luc Lemay of Gorguts, Dave Davidson of Revocation, Liam Wilson of The Dillinger Escape Plan and In Flames and Elliot Hoffman of Carbomb in September 2024.
Reviews GORGUTS - FROM WISDOM TO HATE - OLYMPIC
Soaking in Gorguts' fourth album atop Metallian Towers two things come to my mind. The first is my long history with Gorguts. Not only I see the band's 11 year old demo And Then Comes Lividity in the archives of my catacombs, but I also recall a funny moment at the band's The Erosion of Sanity album release show where a drunken (?) reveler had dominated the pit...break dancing. Luc Lemay couldn't get his eyes off him. The second is how Canada has had a long history of power in the techno metal realm. From Rush to Voivod and Obliveon all the way to Martyr (which contributes one member here) and Cryptopsy, Canada has consistently churned out bands whose tendency to devise complex line after line has been a source of pride. From Wisdom to Hate is one such album. Firmly maintaining their ties with their death metal roots, Gorguts do spawn brutal riffs and growls, yet do so with a lot of complexity and technical wizardry. A song like album opener Inverted for example takes what Cynic and Morbid Angel might have sounded like were they to play simultaneously. The quartet does swerve into doom parts, but Gorguts' bread and butter is firmly in the techno-death realm of things. Add to that involved lyrics, ancient Persian imagery and a clear sounding production and this album is a pleasant surprise this year. - Ali "The Metallian"
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