Gorguts "Obscura" Cassette

Released on cassette tape with UV Printed Tape, full lyrics, credits and photos on an 8-Panel J-Card. Recorded on Recording The Masters RTM911 tape for audiophile quality. Officially licensed by Century Media with approval from Luc Lemay.

All the existential thoughts and crises I've had up until this point are now a joke. What I've gone through while listening to this album is an experience that has destroyed my previous understanding of reality and allowed me to feel things beyond what I ever imagined possible.

Obscura is a vastly underappreciated album. The fact that I can scroll through these reviews and find ones as low as 5% bewilders me. After spending the whole day trying to compose death metal—and thinking I was doing an okay job—Obscura showed me how incredibly wrong I was. Gorguts had such control over the listener's experience that it's like they are all-seeing, all-knowing beings who can experience and write their album at the same time. It is clear that they put all of their power and capabilities to use. They knew exactly what the listener would be feeling at any given moment throughout the songs, and they knew exactly how to progress them in a way that manipulates those feelings profoundly. The visualization and planning of the riffs from each instrument, and how they work together, is beyond human. No instrument is working on its own; all the instruments are united as one.

Speaking of the instruments, I think the tone and production of Obscura is unbelievable. No band has nailed it like Gorguts has on this album. Each instrument can be mentally singled out and heard with satisfying and profound tonality. The vocals are unparalleled—it’s as if they are not limited by the emotions of the human singing them. They come from a higher place. The atmosphere is deep; it doesn’t sound like a cavern—it sounds like something beyond the limits of this universe.

I feel euphoric when I hear the songs progress through their memorable and seemingly infinitely satisfying riffs. Death metal has never been this gratifying to listen to. Whenever a song ends, I am disappointed, and when the album ends, I just want to play it again. The harmonics on Clouded are iconic—remembering those harmonics is what brings me back to this album the most. Listening to Obscura is sort of like being on drugs, but only if they were the best drugs I’ve ever done. The deep thoughts this album provokes are like those of an intense psychedelic experience. The music is more effective at inducing physical euphoria than a high dose of opioids. In my experience, this is not an exaggeration.

Obscura is clearly Gorguts at their greatest. If aliens came to Earth, I would see to it that they hear this album. Obscura is the single thing that I believe best represents the depth and artistic capabilities of humanity. 100% is not enough of a rating for this album. Obscura deserves a rating beyond numbers and mathematics as we know it. An album that sounds like it was created by beings from another universe deserves such a rating.

Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=ugTuSqeL3XM