Review: Gatecreeper Keep the Old Ways Alive and Kicking with Dark Superstition
There is only one inevitability in this life, and that is change. Things are constantly evolving, from technology to societal norms, and especially music. There’s always something new on the horizon, some forward-thinking visionary who has grown bored of the status quo and wants to shake things up somehow. But then on the other side of the coin, this also means that there is a massive, highly profitable market for nostalgia, and tons of bands have been tapping into this market for the past decade or so.
As such, for better or worse, we have found ourselves living in what can only be described as a golden age of old school death metal (ODSM) revival bands. The style hasn’t been this popular since it was just called “death metal” in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and like every other subgenre, it has its ups and downs. Some bands are definitely just rehashing the same thing that everyone’s been doing for decades (any excuse to throw on a denim vest and crush some beers in a parking lot, am I right), but others have a certain je ne sais quoi which helps them remain relevant and exciting in this day and age despite retreading well-worn ground.
One such band currently riding high on the wave of OSDM devotees is the Arizona quintet Gatecreeper, whose newest album Dark Superstition expertly straddles the line between both the European and the American mindsets. The music is still cavernous and chock full of d-beats and huge grooving sections, but it also has a unique, unmistakable pep in its step this time around; imagine if Obituary and At the Gates had a baby, and then you’d be somewhere in the ballpark. There is melody, but I wouldn’t go so far as to actually call it “melodic”. It doesn’t sound pretty, but it does help the brutality go down a little smoother.
A prime example of this is the second song “Oblivion”, which, ironically enough, is actually quite upbeat and has a quasi-thrash vibe to it. It’s a little too raw and ugly to make it all the way into melodic death metal territory, but they’re definitely in the same neighborhood as each other, maybe even on the same street. Other tracks like “Superstitious Vision” and “Caught in the Treads” have a similar anthemic feel to them, but they also have much more wide open space to work with and aren’t quite as fast.
Make no mistake, though — if it’s an ass kicking you’re looking for, then Gatecreeper have got you covered there, too. The fourth track “Masterpiece of Chaos” lives up to its namesake as it just keeps on building and building until it finally releases all of that momentum and catapults itself into huge driving rhythm that carries all the way through to the bitter end. This song is also an excellent showcase of vocalist Chase Mason’s range; while he tends to stay in a fairly comfortable mid-range area for most of the album’s duration, he does hit some of his lowest gurgling growls during the chorus on this one, and it is very satisfying to hear. “A Chilling Aura” is a veritable bulldozer as well, easily the most consistently fast-paced song of them all. Even the slower songs still pack a hefty punch thanks to every single one of Matthew “Metal Matt” Arrebollo’s snare hits sounding like a damn cannon blast. That reverb is something else, man.
There are a couple of genuine curveballs as well, specifically in “The Black Curtain” and “Flesh Habit”. Both of these songs are wildly different from everything else on the album, and at times almost feel like a cover of some traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus rock ‘n roll song that you would hear on the radio. Normally this sort of thing would be a turnoff for me, but this time around I actually found it quite charming. I wouldn’t trip over myself to go listen to them again, but I didn’t dislike them either, not even remotely. I get the sense that the band really wanted to make sure that there was a sense of variety on this album, and if so, they did a very good job.
No matter how you might feel about the deluge of OSDM bands currently making the circuit, it’s impossible to deny that Gatecreeper have earned their keep. They have now firmly entrenched themselves amongst the old guard, having toured with all of the big names like Cannibal Corpse, Mayhem, Dying Fetus, Exhumed, and many more, and as of this writing are currently in the home stretch of a U.S. tour with In Flames (another highly influential Swedish band, imagine that). When listening to an album like Dark Superstition, it’s easy to understand both why and how they made it to this level. It makes you want to shotgun a beer and go charging into the pit, sure, but it’s also got a surprising amount of nuance, and that level of depth speaks to who they are and what they’re really about. It’s nothing we haven’t already heard several times before, but somehow they managed to make it a lot of fun to listen to anyway. These guys are living proof that it’s not just what you play that makes your music great, but how you play it as well.
Dark Superstition is available now via Nuclear Blast Records, order your copy here
