Review by Adam M on May 17, 2016.

Gorguts embarks on a thoughtful tangent with Pleiades’ Dust. There is an undeniable amount of brutality and technicality in this EP, but there is also the thoughtful style to back it up.

I believe Gorguts is a solid band, but the need to seem to use wankery prevents them from being truly great. As with the last album Colored Sands, some parts are addicting, but the whole is held back by the overly dexterous approach to the band using their musical instruments. Fortunately the solid drumming and guitar work is usually interesting to back up the over-indulgence. This is music that is built upon the intelligence of the musicians at play, however, and there is no denying how smart these gents are. They are able to craft a shifting atmosphere to the music that is undeniably weird, but powerful. This leads to some great musical moments sprinkled throughout. I’m stuck in a similar situation with this band to what I feel towards Beyond Creation or Cryptopsy, however. There is this constant push of instrumentation into extreme territories and one is left feeling that the band pushes too far at times. The music is listenable, but takes a large amount of listens to let sink in properly. It is often also weirdly toned, lending a left-field approach to the material.

The EP here is a single piece composed of multiple parts and it works nicely as a stop-gap after the Colored Sands album. Pleiades' Dust is always compelling no matter what direction the band pushes the music in. It’s much like the last album in its obtuse approach, which is quite welcoming for the death metal scene. Still, the album is far from perfect because of the band’s need to throw in as many complex musical passages yet again. Also there is a bit of a lull towards the middle of the EP. All in all, the material here is for the most intelligent of listener’s and those that live or die by technical death metal, in particular.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10