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DAY OF DOOM
The Gates Of Hell

Lavadome Productions (2014)
Rating: 9/10

If you feel like having your soul battered for 45 minutes or so then look no further than the third full-length release from Long Island, New York-based death squad Day Of Doom. This trio has been cracking skulls since 2000 and will appeal to anyone who recalls salivating over those original Suffocation, Gorguts et al albums from the late 80s and early 90s.

Don’t be deceived by the band’s gloomy moniker; this is very much pummelling death metal with sickeningly brutal vocals, crushing bass lines, a paralysing rhythm section and an old school feel that should please the hordes.

The Gates Of Hell is a relentless barrage from beginning to end, echoing the ghastly, frothing moans of a time that so many are attempting to recreate but failing miserably. Coupled with eerie passages and jarring assaults of complexity, album number three from this unhinged bunch is one that’ll have heads turning and eyes literally popping out of their sockets.

I’ll introduce you to the grotesque ingredients which form such a lethal concoction. Firstly there’s the vocals; imagine a gargantuan demon with a mouth full of charred phlegm and body parts and you’ll get some idea as to the pulverising horror and vile intensity of these macabre tones. It’s as if the words are being spewed from the mouth of a volcano rather than a human, such is their blistering force.

They are traditional in the sense that they harken back to the aforementioned Suffocation, as well as Morbid Angel and the likes, and they work with anomalous splendour alongside the truly devastating riffs of Doug Randazzo, whose twisted chords burrow into the brain. Again I’m reminded of Morbid Angel at their sickest, although those Gorguts type of perverse complexities also meander through the gore-congested fog.

But where the album really comes into its own is with the staggering percussive destruction, courtesy of Rich Hervey. There is such an unearthly racket about his wallops and trudges to the point that the drums become more than just a backbone. Instead, they rise above the tumult like some fire-consumed entity of massive proportions enabling the other instruments, including voice, to weave their satanic magic. I don’t know where such an ungodly clamour comes from but there are tracks on this opus which shift with such badness and arrogance that I can only stand agog and revel in the utmost horror of it all.

For a slower pace, try the annihilating qualities of ‘Embrace Your Demise’ with its mournful traipse. But for truly sinister, old school depravity, then latch onto the terrifying slam of ‘Fathers Lies’ which is about as vintage as contemporary death metal gets.

Ferocious throughout, The Gates Of Hell sees Day Of Doom once again progress further into the flame-ridden caverns of hell. The band has created another distressing slab, consisting of 11 demoralizing tunes which provide the very soundtrack to the swollen banks of the River Styx. If Satan built a vehicle to run him around town then the musicianship on this opus could well be that very machine.

Eerie, shattering, bludgeoning and above all contaminated beyond belief, The Gates Of Hell is just a truly despicable lump of death metal featuring all manner of sickening noises, ranging from the creepy instrumental ‘The Vomitorium Angel’ to the evil plod of ‘Circle Of Eternal Aftermath’ and the contaminated frenzy of ‘Reborn Through Oblivion Flames’. This one is gonna hurt, so be warned!

Neil Arnold

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