I wasn’t blown away by this debut, but I can honestly say that it is definitely a very nice album if I do say so myself. Gateway has created an album where death and doom metal mold seamlessly together even though the death metal overpowers the doom just a little bit to where it’s noticeable if you’re paying attention. By that I mean the tracks aren’t as slow or as long as traditional doom, but it still holds a slow enough tempo and a crushing beat to satisfy me in my need for quality doom. Then the vocals come in that are so deep and guttural that I don’t even think the guy knows what he’s saying, which is awesome if you want to ensure and achieve maximum brutality with vocals alone. All 8 tracks have an excellent sound to them that as a fan of both doom and death metal I can say that they hold up fantastically alongside the rest of the band. Oh yeah, did I mention that Gateway is a one man band? No? Well now you know. And you should also know that I highly encourage any fan of death or doom (or both!) to check this debut out and keep an eye out for the follow up as I’ve got complete confidence that this guy will already improve on something awesome.

LISTEN to “Gateway” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Gateway on Facebook here.