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Catch This Tour: Gorguts, Origin, Nero Di Marte

Gorguts

Photo by Karen A. Mann

Gorguts have announced a short December tour of eastern North America with Origin and Italy’s Nero Di Marte (formerly Murder Therapy). For me, this tour is such a no-brainer that explaining its appeal approaches tautology. Why wouldn’t one want to see the best weird death metal band ever, preceded by the kings of death metal shred and some promising upstarts who have never played the States? Not everyone will get the chance; the ten-day run amounts to a smattering of Canadian and East Coast dates, plus stops in Chicago and Ohio. But some of us are lucky, and you can bet that I will growling along with Luc Lemay in the front row at the New York date. (New York City: where people happily tolerate the stench of human excrement every time they go outside, because “the live music scene is sweet.”)

You can check out the run of dates at the bottom of this post. If you’re in this tour’s path and need some additional encouragement to make it to the gig, or if you’re a little out of the way but are considering a road trip, here are some concrete reasons to put in the effort:

—If you want to see a drummer explode on stage, This Is Spinal Tap-style, this tour is probably your best bet. Every night, John Longstreth will be cranking out an Origin set, which in itself is one of the most demanding physical feats in the metal world, and then immediately playing through an even longer Gorguts set. The mind boggles at the highly specific type of athleticism required to pull of such a stunt. It’s entirely possible that in doing so, Longstreth will set the record for most drum strokes played per night on a metal tour. I feel bad for his tendons.

—Gorguts will be playing their new album Colored Sands straight through on the tour, plus a handful of older songs. While Colored Sands will never be my favorite album of theirs (Obscura 4 lyfe), it is certainly as good as anything they’ve done, and is indeed one of the best albums of 2013. Judging by Lemay’s gear rundown over at MetalSucks, the band has put a lot of thought into recreating the album in full. Material of its complexity is easier to process live when you’ve heard it several times beforehand. Colored Sands will have been out for several months by the time this tour comes around, so you will be able to set down your time signature calculator and pick up a beer.

—A lot of people hate Origin, especially right now. They are the opposite of murky. But even if you are an old-school partisan, it’s worth watching Origin at least once. Their live show is simultaneously so fast and so precise that your brain can’t really process it. It’s like watching footage of Bruce Lee taking out a room full of dudes; you understand what’s going on, but not how it can be done. And if the shred bores you, frontman Jason Keyser’s stage yuks will inject some levity.

—I’m personally not wild about Nero Di Marte on record, largely because of Sean Worrell’s shout-sung vocals. But vocal shortcomings tend to get buried at live metal shows, and instrumentally, Nero Di Marte is exciting. Do you think Ulcerate would be better if they weren’t quite so dry? Do you think Gojira would improve if they weren’t writing choruses for arena tours? This band is for you. They debuted a neat video that involves a lot of melting clay over at Metal Injection yesterday. Watch it.

—According to our radio interview with Gorguts, Luc Lemay’s death metal fanny pack (visible here) is no more. But how will you know for sure unless you find out firsthand?

Check out the full run of Gorguts/Origin/Nero Di Marte dates below. Come say hi if you’re at the NYC show.

— Doug Moore

Gorguts, Origin, Nero Di Marte tour dates:

12/11 Burlington, VT- Nectar’s
12/12 Hartford, CT- Webster Underground
12/13 Poughkeepsie, NY – The Chance Theater
12/14 Columbus, OH- Alrosa Villa
12/15 Chicago, IL- Cobra Lounge
12/17 Toronto, ON- Wreck Room
12/18 Ottawa, ON -Mavericks
12/19 Quebec City, QC- Cégep de Limoilou
12/20 Montreal, QC- La Tulipe
12/21 Brooklyn, NY- Saint Vitus