FEAR, EMPTINESS, DECIBEL: LISTEN TO THE NEW GATES OF SLUMBER FLEXI DISC!

Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…

If any band ever needed to run a “name our next album” contest, it’s the Gates of Slumber. Indy’s preeminent ripping doom trio are fixtures on not only Decibel’s but plenty of metal mags/blogs’ year-end best-of lists. Each successive record earns more acclaim as Karl Simon, Jason McCash and J. Clyde Paradis gradually fine-tune their righteous narco-trad metal assault. And yet, the titles of their last two records—2008’s Conqueror and 2009’s Hymns of Blood and Thunder—unintentionally evoke Jesu and Mastodon (they don’t sound like either), and TGOS have done it again on new platter The Wretch (see: Kyuss), due out May 10 on Rise Above/Metal Blade. Hell, at least they’re name-checking good bands.

Of course, that didn’t stop us from commemorating Gates on the latest Decibel Flexi. The metallic silver-on-red slab is the most color that anything from Indiana has ever been afforded. As for the tune, it’s the 2011 version of “The Jury,” originally found on 2004 full-length debut  …The Awakening. It’s the longest dB Flexi to date at nearly seven minutes, meaning we had to press it at 33 1/3 rotation, as opposed to the conventional 45. (Brevity is the soul of shit, right?) Subscribers should have the issue within the next two weeks, but non-subscribers can order it here or simply try it on for size below.

The Gates of Slumber “The Jury” by Decibel Magazine

-AB

You can buy the June 2011 issue of Decibel here, or get a full subscription to ensure you never miss one of these awesome flexi discs!