Year: 2021
Total time: 17:56
Label: Closed Casket Activities

       After the split release with fellow compatriots EXHUMED in 2019, the very prolific GATECREEPER from Arizona decided to release another EP consisting of eight tracks in almost eighteen minutes. Something does not add up I know, but the truth is that “An Unexpected Realty” is being split in two parts. The first seven songs last no more than seven minutes while “Emptiness” lasts almost eleven.

     GATECREEPER decided in this EP to distance themselves from their Swedish influenced sound and explore some new musical trails executed always under the band’s  prism. The first seven songs follow Grindcore and Hardcore patterns with ferocious blast beats and razor sharped guitar riffs ,”coloured” by Chase Mason’s familiar vocals. In “Emptiness” they crossed the Rubicon and landed to the opposite shore in a song influenced by early Doom Death Metal, PARADISE LOST and MY DYING BRIDE especially in the guitar tune, to grant us with a Death Doom gem. The result is satisfactory and it emphatically represents a different facade of the band. The production is as heavy and dirty as it should be and the cover artwork inclines the listener towards the musical path he is going to encounter.

      I recommend this EP to be heard in it’s entirety and without a break in order to listen and realize the duality of the sound that GATECREEPER  want to present to us. I would consider «An Unexpected Reality» to be an exercise, an attempt to reach new musical paths and challenge their frontiers without sacrificing their unique sound. This experiment sounds interesting and their effort to keep their hype alive is being judged with leniency.

Rating: 6.5/10
Editor: Dimos Karadimos
Related Link: GATECREEPER – Facebook page