I think it’s safe to say that Gatecreeper has cemented themselves at the forefront of modern death metal by all accounts. Only being around for eight years, the name has become synonymous with next level, hard-hitting death metal that fucking delivers in every possible department without exception. After last year’s “Deserted”, it was back to waiting for a few years for new material to astound us with that would surely surpass even that excellence. But, the wait was much shorter than I think any of us realized it would be. A surprise EP, it’s on this offering that Gatecreeper shakes things up quite a bit to show us a new side of themselves that I think many of us wouldn’t mind seeing more often.

Right out of the gate, the thing that stands out from this unexpected work is the runtimes for every track. Out of these eight tracks, seven of them don’t breach any further than 71 seconds in total with the finale, “Emptiness”, providing us with 11 minutes of a doom slog that is so much more than what any of us could have asked for. If they really wanted to, Gatecreeper could use “An Unexpected Reality” to completely alter their sound to go down two absurdly different paths with both of them working far too well: grind-like passages that are no less than acidic to the touch, and some of the heaviest takes on doom that a band like this has dared to execute. And I cannot stress enough how well both of them are done here! It only further shows the genius behind the name of Gatecreeper to really prove that they are a modern act for our modern soundscape that cannot be denied in all of its grandeur with one listen of “An Unexpected Reality” hopefully being enough to show any single listener what we’re dealing with here. Gatecreeper make it all but effortless to fall into this utterly gripping work that thrashes us to Hell and back before slowly crushing us back into those fiery depths to ensure that not only our flesh is but moist ribbons floating in the careless wind and our souls devoid of light, but enthrall us wholly into their vicious service such that we cannot live without their overwhelming presence. Gatecreeper’s current reign of sheer menace and mastery has never been in question, but I know it’s safe to say that every single one of us was blindsided by everything that “An Unexpected Reality” delivers in every way, and it wouldn’t hurt to hear more of this in later efforts one bit.

To see a band step out of their comfort zone to put forth something that is categorically different whether out of a sheer joy of the effort to do so, a simple desire to do something different, or both is a welcome swathe of fresh air for someone like me, and I cannot stress enough how magnificently Gatecreeper executed it on this work. “An Unexpected Reality” is something that many of us will stay lost in for many months and years to come with their being so much to dive into here, and I truly do hope this isn’t the last time we hear Gatecreeper like this.

LISTEN to “An Unexpected Reality” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Gatecreeper on Facebook here.