The grey skies cleared briefly over downtown Rochester as extreme metal fans gathered to witness the return of tech death legends Gorguts. The site of the upcoming chaos was the Montage Music Hall, Rochester’s premier venue for all things metal. The crowd was small; the gig loud, and the end result was not one that anyone present will forget any time soon. Gorguts mastermind Luc Lemay manned the merch table where he happily shook hands, and chatted with everyone who came by. His clear enthusiasm was infectious to those around him, so expectations were high. Now I’ll admit that I’m a relative newcomer to the band, having only really followed their music for the past year or so, so I knew little about what to expect other than a brutal show with amazing technical prowess. And that was what was delivered… eventually.
As most anyone who’s ever attended a metal show in a very small club knows you can usually expect a few local acts to open things off, and tonight was no exception. The difference tonight was that there were four of them, and their attempts at music took up a considerable about of the 5 hours spent at the show. The results were mixed to say the least, which is only natural. From the surprisingly good Systematic Defiance; to the painfully awful Rip Open the Sky, whose lead singer bellowed and acted like a clown running around the venue on a wireless mic. The final local group was Lahkesis, who were musically capable, but their vocalist was less than impressive, and spent a good amount of time attempting to get the crowd to perform a wall of death. Which given the fact that there were maybe 60 people present, and the venue small was more than a little sad. Eventually it all ended, and the main bands were ready.
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The first up was Baltimore’s Exist who play a hybrid of progressive death metal, and jazz fusion. Their appearance on stage separated them from the start, as the only band to feature a keyboardist, and a vocalist who doubled as a guitarist. Their sound was quite reminiscent of Cynic which is quite high praise, and their main vocalist/guitarist Max Phelps spent a good amount of time with them as a vocalist which goes a long way to explaining that fact. They only played 4 songs, but they were all fairly long, so they delivered a solid performance, with a respectable duration, and were certainly the highlight up to that point in the show. Their new album is coming out soon, and if there is any justice in the world it will get the attention it deserves.
Gorguts hit the stage about 10:30 and launched into the technical brutality that is their hallmark, and before the first song was finished it was apparent that they had already separated themselves from the other bands on the bill for sheer presence and power. The precision drumming of Patrice Hamelin was simply stunning, as was the sweeping, and tapping employed by bassist Colin Marston, and the dueling guitar work of Kevin Hufnagel; who complimented Luc perfectly. The centerpiece of the set, and unquestioned highlight was the performance of last year’s 33 minute single song EP ‘Pleiades Dust’ which was performed in its entirety with a precision, and energy which was truly mind blowing. The stress, and concentration it took to perform this magnum opus, was clear on the faces of all the musicians, and that tension was transmitted to the audience who were captivated by every moment of it. It was truly one of the best performances I have seen. They ended the evening with “Orphans of Sickness” from their ’93 album ‘The Erosion of Sanity’ it was a fun closer, but paled in comparison to what we had just witnessed.
Tonight Gorguts proved once again why they have long been considered one of the greatest, and most important technical metal bands in history. And with a set list that spanned all of their 25 year plus career they gave longtime and new fans alike a terrific show to enjoy. Any fan of the band, or extreme technical metal in general would do well to catch this tour if it comes anywhere near you.