Music

Gorguts singer Luc Lemay talks about modesty, labels, and album leaks

by Tyler Munro

“It fucking leaked, man, but what can I do?”

Conditions have certainly changed for singer Luc Lemay, who last released an album with legendary Quebec metal band Gorguts more than a decade ago. That was From Wisdom to Hate, the year was 2001, and he had only just set up his first e-mail address.

New album Colored Sands existed in its early stages as far back as 2008, and by February 2011 had been fully recorded aside from the lyrics and vocals. But while reading and researching what would become the album’s lyrics and concept, Lemay found himself in a legal battle with Century Media, the label that owned his contract after absorbing Olympic Recordings.

“Back then I didn’t want to sign those papers because I was done with music, but apparently, legally, I had to do it,” he explained.

It turns out Lemay wasn’t done with music, but after what he calls an exhaustive process trying to iron out new details of an old contract with a new label, he brought Gorguts to Season of Mist. And with a new home, they’re back with what might be their most cohesive album yet.

“The orchestral piece is a breather which takes the distortion and drums out of the listener’s ear,” he explains. “But ‘Enemies of Compassion’ has a very chaotic lead. It’s very oppressive.”

The transition is intentional. Colored Sands is divided into two parts; the first four songs deal with Tibetan spirituality and culture, and bridged by the classically inspired “The Battle of Chamdo” is a second half that tells a tale of tyranny and oppression by Chinese rule.

Lemay calls Colored Sands his most conservative album with Gorguts—and he’s not entirely wrong—but that’s where modesty comes in. Conservative is a relative term.

“I’m more into creating atmosphere within layers and composition than sitting down and trying to be more technical for the sake of playing a lot of notes,” he says, explaining that he tries to write with the abilities he has. Comparing himself to guitarists like Jeff Loomis and Suffocation’s Terrance Hobbs, Lemay says there’s no competition.

“I’m not even close to those players. I don’t have the ability to write music like they’re doing,” he says, at least admitting that you can’t call what Gorguts plays “super simple music.”

Gorguts have long been known for playing with rhythms and techniques. Rather than trying to play a flurry of notes faster than the rest, Lemay’s guitar style is defined by percussive scrapes and taps, writing some of extreme music’s most challenging material even before his time at Montreal’s Music Conservatory. If the years since Obscura and From Wisdom to Hate have taught him anything, it’s modesty. While he says he composes within his limits, Colored Sands proves he might not have any.