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GATECREEPER
Dark Superstition

Nuclear Blast (2024)
Rating: 7.5/10

It’s difficult for me to get caught up in a hype machine when it seems as if those getting excited about such a record are completely unaware of the history of death metal. Arizona’s Gatecreeper have most certainly been a formidable act within the genre since forming in 2013, but one cannot overlook the fact that the band’s latest offering sounds like Swedish death metal legends Dismember, whose origins date back to the late 80s.

I’ve heard a few people stating how original Dark Superstition is, which tells me all I need to know. The reality is that Gatecreeper’s third full-length outing is strong, catchy, melodic but unoriginal. Of course, I don’t expect many death metal bands of today to create a new sound, but the familiarity here in those grooves just makes me yearn for 1991 all over again.

Chase H. Mason’s rough slurping growls are energetic and at times even lean towards a hardcore dynamic, but it’s all a case of recycling and the same can be said for the riffs. I do however like some of the more melodic segments, such as the opening strains of ‘Dead Star’ with its waft of In Flames and the chainsaw-driven slower passages littered throughout what is still the best album from the band to date.

I guess the key here is that pretty much all of the songs present are memorable, particularly ‘The Black Curtain’ and ‘Masterpiece Of Chaos’,although the Dismember comparisons emerge time and time again, especially on ‘Caught In The Treads’. You will also find a teetering towards a black death vision, as well as utmost aggression through the chaotic carnage of ‘A Chilling Aura’, but my personal favourites are the gothic ‘Tears Fall From The Sky’ with its haunting atmosphere and the slightly less savage ‘Flesh Habit’ which flirts with Paradise Lost.

It could be argued that this is the record that truly defines Gatecreeper’s sound, but even with its more experimental details it is the album I predicted; a wall of Swedish HM-2 riffs resulting in meaty grooves, Mason’s raw pukes, crafty melodious leads and a multitude of drum fills. It’s all good solid stuff that nods towards Entombed circa Wolverine Blues (1993) and bristles with anthemic frothing bolstered by the production of Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou.

A raw and riotous return indeed, Gatecreeper is a force to be reckoned with for sure, but more so if you’re new to the scene and have never heard of the bands previously mentioned.

Neil Arnold

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