CD review GATECREEPER ‘Deserted’

(8/10) Gatecreeper is a rather new band. The guys from Arizona started their musical endeavor six years ago and it’s a solid number of split-releasesbeing part of their track record.

The full-length debut ‘Sonoran Depravation’ crawled out of darkness in 2016 and it’s the sophomore album ‘Deserted’ that brings a next portion of well-crafted Death Metal to surface.

Gatecreeper is a band that puts groove and riffs before speed. Their sound has its roots in the ’80s Floridian Death Metal. Bands like Obituary must have inspired the quintet. No doubt. Songs like ‘Everlasting’ and the title track, also being the opener of the album, are massive riff grinding orgies, combining brutality, groove and catchiness to a great total.

Besides the mid-tempo assaults Gatecreeper also shifts gears here and there. ‘Puncture Wounds’ belongs to the faster tracks on the album and ‘In Chains’ doesn’t come with a foot on the brake either. Next to Obituary it’s legendary Bolt Thrower I had to think about while listening to the album. It’s the immense riffpower, the merciless groove and the extreme growls that spreads a deadly fascination right away.

‘Deserted’ is an excellent second album that will help Gatecreeper to establish themselves as a great player in the fields of Death Metal. Very cool stuff.