Review: The Gates Of Slumber ‘The Gates Of Slumber’
I’ve got this overpowering memory of the one and only time I witnessed the extreme doom power of Indiana’s finest at the 2009 edition of the Damnation Festival in Leeds. With my newly acquired t-shirt, I was left in awe at what I was watching, my body shaking at the rattling bass and thundering drums, and I left with a huge smile on my face, so when this new album became available, I simply had to review it.
This is the first The Gates Of Slumber record since 2011 and as Karl Simon said himself, he ‘never intended to pick up with The Gates Of Slumber ever again in 2014’ due mainly to the untimely demise of bassist Jason McCash, when Simon called it quits. They eventually returned when they answered the call from the Hell Over Hammaburg Festival in 2020, but when Covid hit, everything stopped. With Chuck Brown on drums and Steve Janiak on bass, they kept writing new music and now is the time for it to be uneased on the world.
And all I can say, thank FUCK they did, as this is an absolute stonker of an album!! They have taken heavy to another level and as soon as that drum sound kicks off Embrace The Lie I’m back to that live show in 2009 all over again. (I’m grinning like a Cheshire Cat as I type this, which is somewhat ironic as that’s the county where I reside.) It’s a slow, slumbering beast of a track that has an overwhelming bass line which hits you straight in the stomach with each string that’s plucked. Then we get the slow, monster doom riff from Simon that teases the listener further and delivers so much.
This is their sixth studio album, and the might of old-school doom metal resonates through every track, with songs inspired by such legendary bands as Saint Vitus. The simple bass intro to We Are Perdition is as good as anything you’ll hear this year, next year or the one after that. It’s a constant flow across the song, and it’s a haunting track, that feels measured but prone to bursts of exquisite doom guitars with the riff halfway through being monstrous.
It’s relentless and gives another timely refresher of what they do best, simple yet effective doom metal…
They are undeniably one of the finest exponents of the doom metal genre and add that fuzzy guitar sound to the start of Full Moon Fever that gets your head moving and body shaking, with the unmistakable drum noise driving the song forward at each opportunity. It’s relentless and gives another timely refresher of what they do best, simple yet effective doom metal. Then there is the opening of At Dawn being quite chilling, before a colossal riff takes over, the bass simmering away in the background, while the whole sound is gargantuan and serves as another reminder of just how good this trio are.
With the fifth and penultimate song inspired by one of my favourite John Carpenter films, The Fog has a scary beginning that leaves you feeling cold, much like the film when I first saw it as a young kid. The vocal is spookish and evocative, the rhythm is ghostly and lingering, one that stays in your head for ages after you’ve stopped listening to it. It’s seven and a half minutes of exceptional doom metal that showcases the trio’s individual and collective genius.
With the final song written about the black death, The Plague is another seven minute plus gem of a track, and once again emphasises the immense talent of the band. The riff is powerful and all encompassing, the drums are monstrous, and the bass is exceptional. This album will spread like the plague, infecting the bodies and minds of all suspecting and unsuspecting humans that come across its path and expect to be mesmerised and engrossed in music that has been long overdue. Welcome back The Gates Of Slumber.
Label: Svart Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Matthew Williams
