Colored Sands
| Colored Sands | ||||
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| Studio album by Gorguts | ||||
| Released | August 6, 2013 September 3, 2013 |
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| Genre | ||||
| Length | 62:51 | |||
| Label | Season of Mist | |||
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| Gorguts chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 81/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Decibel Magazine | 9/10 |
| Exclaim! | 10/10 |
| MetalSucks |   |
| The New York Times | mixed |
| Pitchfork | 8.2/10 |
| Sputnikmusic | 4.7/5 |
Colored Sands is the fifth full-length album by technical death metal band Gorguts. It is Gorguts' first studio album since 2001's From Wisdom to Hate. The album features the band's first recordings with guitarist Kevin Hufnagel and bassist Colin Marston, and the band's only recordings with drummer John Longstreth. It is a concept album based on Tibet. The album was released digitally on August 6, 2013, and the release of the CD and vinyl versions on September 3, 2013.
Luc Lemay joined Negativa with Steeve Hurdle after Gorguts disbanded in 2005, but felt uncomfortable with the improvisational elements in that band's music. At Hurdle's recommendation, Lemay reformed Gorguts in summer 2008 in order to prepare for the twentieth anniversary of Gorguts' 1989 formation. As Lemay recollected, "When Steeve brought the idea to me to make a new record to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band, I'd never thought about it before. I was very happy with everything the band had accomplished in the past and I had no intention of making a new record. Then, when I started to write, I had no apprehensions either...I just went with the flow and wrote the music I wanted to hear".
Lemay pursued drummer John Longstreth after being impressed with his performance on Dim Mak's album Knives of Ice. Longstreth and Lemay began rehearsing in early 2009. Lemay had previously met Colin Marston at a Negativa show in Montreal and originally wanted him to play guitar in the reformed Gorguts; however, Hurdle recommended Kevin Hufnagel as a potential guitarist, and Lemay agreed that his playing was impressive. Marston and Hufnagel both agreed to join the group, with Marston on bass instead of guitar. Lemay has confirmed that his collaboration with Marston and Hufnagel - who are also classically trained musicians - were critical to the composition of Colored Sands:
They are amazing players, and they have training themselves, as well. When we work on arrangements together, we can go into very micro-detail, like in doing composition on a sheet of paper, and we can understand each other's minds and very specific ideas in words by using an academic vocabulary. Colin's a big fan of those very modern American composers, like Elliot Carter, which is super complex music, and he listens to that like every day. It's the first time that I have [with me] someone writing extreme music and death metal, and we can share on Bartok and appreciate it.
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