Gatecreeper: Sonoran Depravation (2016)

This is technically the second time I have acquired this album.  I bought it a couple of years ago but apparently lost it during the course of moving into my new office (a lot of CDs found their way into my office and just stayed there).  I enjoyed it quite a bit, so I wanted another copy.  And since I never covered it on the blog, it works out to get it in here.

Gatecreeper is pure Swedish death worship.  In particular, Gatecreeper worships at the altar of the great Dismember, taking some of their d-beat riff-o-rama and expanding upon it.  Gatecreeper is primarily interested in the more melodic-leaning middle-era Dismember stuff.  Though Dismember was never exactly melodic, they just incorporated a bit more in some of their material.  Massive Killing Capacity is probably the album I would point to as the primary reference point.  Throw in a little Bolt Thrower and that is a pretty good idea of what Gatecreeper sounds like here.

There is nothing terribly original here.  Gatecreeper is another in a long line of bands trying for that old-school Swedish death metal sound.  Obviously I referenced Dismember.  The songs are loud and heavy, with very little breathing room.  But Gatecreeper generally does a better job of playing Swedish death.  Just look at "Desperation" for an example.  It is fast, intense, and has a terrific riff at the center.

There are a lot of bands trying hard to sound like the old Swedish death scene when Nihilist, Dismember, Grave and others were starting out.  Not many pull it off as convincingly as Gatecreeper.  There is a reason I have now bought this album multiple times.