An Unexpected Reality

Album review

With their first two albums, Gatecreeper became modern torchbearers for old-school death metal. On those releases, the Arizona unit pulled as much from Entombed as they did Obituary and Bolt Thrower, resulting in a riff-centric sound that was as reliably meat and potatoes as it was fresh and forward-thinking. On An Unexpected Reality, the now-established act switch up their formula: the first seven songs of the eight-track project clock in at a minute or less and slam into each other like one long blitz, while the final track is an eleven-minute doom metal epic.

Like the previous two albums, this one was produced by Ryan Bram and mixed by Converge guitarist/renowned engineer Kurt Ballou. Together, those guys have crafted a sonic palette for Gatecreeper that's bulky, serrated, and loud as hell, but also incredibly clear and balanced. That fidelity remains on An Unexpected Reality, but with the first seven songs taking a lot more influence from grind. These are short, no-frills blasts of death metal with a hardcore energy, and their blend of chunky guitars and crisp production definitely brings to mind later period Nails. Songs like "Rusted Gold" and "Amputation" feature nasty chug sections, while opener "Starved" begins like a burst of flames and manages to pack a previously typical four-minute Gatecreeper song into a quarter of the time.

However, as soon as the record feels like it's sinking into a groove that channels classic grindcore albums from Pig Destroyer and Nasum, the trudging closer feels like an interruption. "Emptiness" is a composed journey through doomy clean sections, sludgy screams, and towering leads; it's an undeniably well-done performance. Even so, the sheer songwriting ambition doesn't amount to the same aural highs as the steamrolling death metal assault that enccompasses the record's first half. An Unexpected Reality serves as a much-needed holdover until their next proper full-length, but it does leave a little to be desired. © Eli Enis/Qobuz