Gatecreeper: Deserted (2019)

Desert-born death metallers Gatecreeper took the death metal world by storm with their debut Sonoran Depravation.  Their crusty, d-beat-brand of Dismember worship was fresh and chaotic, with just enough originality to resist falling into the trap of being a copycat.  And so it was that Gatecreeper's sophomore release was highly anticipated.

I want to start by saying I do enjoy this album quite a bit.  That being said, it is something of a step backwards for the band.  The Dismember influences are still very much intact and some of the songs do a fantastic job of capturing the crushing, chaotic nature of the legendary Swedish band.  Songs like "Barbaric Pleasures", "Puncture Wounds" and the appropriately-named "Ruthless" are guaranteed to break some necks.

Unfortunately, too many of the songs settle into a mid-paced groove, rather than the neck-snapping whirlwind of riffs of the aforementioned songs.  The result is an album that mostly sounds safe.  Death metal is many things, but it absolutely is not supposed to be safe.  It is a perfectly fine album, but it does not push any boundaries and the album suffers compared to the band's debut.

Again, I do enjoy this album, though it is not nearly as impressive as Gatecreeper's debut.  I saw the band live and they do recapture some of the lost energy on these songs live.  A live album would be an interesting release from the band.  Hopefully this is just a sophomore slump and the band will come back all guns blazing on the next one.