Album/EP

Gatecreeper - Dark Superstition (Album Review)

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Heavy Metal Wordsmith

May 16, 2024

7 min read

Gatecreeper – Dark Superstition
Released: May 17th, 2024

Line Up:

Chase H. Mason // Vocals
Eric Wagner // Guitars
Israel Garza // Guitars
Alex Brown // Bass
Metal Matt // Drums

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Lovers of all things old-school death metal, Arizona’s Gatecreeper have spent the last decade working and touring their collective backsides off on their quest to heavy metal glory. Their trans-Atlantic take on extreme metal has seen the five-piece cherry-pick the best elements of the classic Swedish and American death metal scene to create their own unique style. With two excellent full-lengths and a host of EPs and splits to their names, Gatecreeper’s new third effort Dark Superstition sees the quartet put more focus into songwriting and crafting compositions than ever before – and they may have just created the record that takes them up to the next rung on the metal ladder.

We’re immediately off to the races with the tone-setting opener ‘Dead Star’. A fist-pumping, mid-tempo riffer, the album kick-off takes the listener straight into melodic death metal territory, conjuring up late 90s In Flames vibes. It’s a great way to begin Dark Superstition, neatly highlighting the increased attention to creating memorable tunes – yet it’s still clearly Gatecreeper, with Chase Mason’s throat-shredding vocals as powerful as ever, and the HM2-chainsaw guitar tone slicing through the mix. There is an obvious focus on the running order – a nice touch in the modern, playlist-obsessed age – with a heavier cut often backing up a more melodic piece, such as the more to-the-throat ‘Masterpiece of Chaos’ following the anthemic ‘The Black Curtain‘. One of the most ‘song’ orientated tracks in Gatecreeper’s catalogue, ‘The Black Curtain‘ is more than just “big riffs with screams over the top”; it’s a proper, layered tune and a career highlight.

Though the group’s longtime producer/engineer/mixer Kurt Ballou keeps the sonic realm the same as previous releases, the subtle outside influences, and usage of other instrumentation add more colour to Gatecreeper’s palate than ever before; the melodic ‘Superstitious Vision‘ – with an awesome mood-changing bridge – and bass-driven ‘Flesh Habit‘ boast additional hand percussion to drive along the choruses. Dark Superstition feels like a good compromise (easier said than done) – the band are aware that some different paths are being explored, but they’ve not abandoned their sound of old; they just built upon it and expanded outwards. Of course, there are still plenty of classic Gatecreeper chunky guitar parts, flattening drums and growl-along moments; the blastbeats of ‘A Chilling Aura‘ transitions into a stomping main refrain, ‘Caught In The Treads’ is built around fist-pumping riffage, while ‘Mistaken For Dead‘ is the album’s most to-the-point, grindcore-influenced cut, harkening back to their 2021 Unexpected Reality EP. Epic closer ‘Tears Fall From The Sky’ sees the band tap into their more doom/mournful side, with the near-six-minute track a proper way to wrap up proceedings – the repeated guitar motif fading out Dark Superstition on an epic note.

Gatecreeper’s most complete and mature collection to date, there will of course be a small percentage of the band’s fanbase that may think that Dark Superstition is a step too far down the melodic path. Yes, the songs are more direct than ever (only one over four minutes), and the choruses stand up proudly, but there is no loss of power or layers of polish added; this is still undeniably a Gatecreeper record and there’s enough aggression on here to appease fans of old. The musical evolution on display feels both cathartic and brimming with confidence; the additional paths being explored fitting naturally into the band’s established sound. It is a notch less brutal than before, but Gatecreeper have proven themselves strong enough songwriters that the hooks, choruses and memorable moments on Dark Superstition are simply too strong not to enjoy.

While it’s yet to be seen if this new LP takes Gatecreeper up to the next step, the inspired, immediately satisfying material that covers Dark Superstition front-to-back makes it a powerful contender for the heavy release of 2024.