If you've ever walked into a lamp post, it's neither rewarding or something you wish to happen again. 'Considered Dead' is a similar experience. Here's a band who, like so many other death metal acts from the late '80s and early '90s, would've released a fairly decent slab of extreme music, but most certainly have been swept by the wayside as hordes of similar bands climbed the mountain. Monstrosity, Massacre, Morbid Angel, Obituary, Suffocation, Gorguts, Atheist, Nocturnus, Deicide, blah blah..scores of death metal bands, only a chosen few really getting noticed. 'Considered Dead' is an unhealthy wallop around the back of the head of paving slab proportions. It's heavy, it's often fast, the vocals are a gurgle, the drums frenetic, and to be honest, we've heard it all before. For some reason so many bands from the era had a similar sound. Of course, a lot of bands were tweaking their sound at Morrisound Studios, but the harsh reality is, not a lot separated the acts. Morbid Angel had a twisted originality, Obituary rasped off the flesh in their vocal attack, Deicide simply claimed to be Jesus-hating lunatics, and Atheist baffled us with their complexity. Many other bands lacked the creativity to prosper, and although Gorguts released several heavy death metal records, they are pretty much symbolic of the era. There's not a lot here that enables them to stand out. Maybe their no thrills attack was all part of the plan, but after all is said and done, and you've been pummelled by the record, the highest compliment I can actually pay Gorguts, is the fact that around two decades after release, it doesn't actually sound that dated.
6.5/10
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