GATECREEPER - Sonoran Depravation

Gatecreeper - Sonoran Depravation (2016, Relapse Records)

Of all the influences cited about the release of Gatecreeper’s first album, Sonoran Depravation, there is a conclusion we can easily get to; the band pushes the Death Metal buttons of fans of every spheres of the genre because the Gatecreeper is form by passionates of the Death Metal movement. Let’s have the name dropping game going on : Entombed, Asphyx, Suffocation, and Bolt Thrower just to name a few.

However, they are not a pale copy of those pillars, they have a contemporary sound with the Kurt Ballou (Converge) treatment and you have this à la Cult Leader or Converge abrasive sound that scrapes more than it polishes your inner ears. In fact, the depth of their sound is a rich and heavy Metal sound. Some might not be fans of Ballou’s work because it has a signature. But I kind of think it gives an extra edge to the music.

Spanned on nine songs Depravation has every element of being in the line of classic albums of the aforementioned influences. They are not reinventing the wheel or anything exploratory but they have what it takes to hold up high the banner of Death Metal and keep alive the spirit of those who paved the way without having to be constantly compared to the precursors.

8.0