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| Artwork by JGA. |
Far from the bitter cold of Sweden lies Gatecreeper. This Arizona group must yearn for the land of cheap furniture and meatballs as they take a large chunk of their influences from the Swedish death metal scene for this self-titled EP. And this is good.
Running down their list of influences all the checks are made. Guitar sound of a buzzsaw set to Dismember. Check. Deathly, mean and gnarly vocals Unleashed upon their victims. Check. Unrepentant Carnage leaving a mass of bodies Entombed forever. Check. I can hear some Trap Them as well but much of that is tonal. As where Trap Them predominantly goes full throttle, Gatecreeper drags the pain out over mid-paced riffs and creeping sludge pacing.
Gatecreeper pulses with menace and a ground-and-pound approach. The listener finds they're being pulverized by a darkness and sneering hatred. It's a formula and sound done many times before but that's no complaint when done well and with conviction.
Muscular riffs stick like fly paper as you're driven to bang your head with a consistent cadence not likely to send it rolling across the floor but enough to make it ache the next day. Somewhere in that slick sweat and spit you'll find subtle little licks, a bit of gallop and even some guitarmonies.
Gatecreeper is a beefy EP. Thick on tone and flavoured just right for fans of skull-bashing Swe-death. The band is just getting started and Gatecreeper has laid a pretty good foundation for them to build on.
[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]