Gatecreeper - An Unexpected Reality EP

An unstoppable force meets an immovable object.

(Originally submitted to the Metal Archives on March 4th 2021) 

2 years after the great Deserted, Gatecreeper released the aptly named An Unexpected Reality back in January. It was released with no warning whatsoever, and it most certainly lives up to its name, seeing as the band tries things that I doubt anyone would’ve expected of them. It's a 17 minute release that not only takes us through the band's more hardcore roots, but also expands on some concepts that we have merely seen glimpses of in the past.

The first side is what vocalist Chase has referred to as "Blastcreeper". It’s comprised of 7 tracks that in most cases barely break a minute in runtime. Here we see the band showing us more of its hardcore roots by creating some blazing fast powerviolence-influenced bangers. Despite their brevity these tracks aren’t without small standout sections, such as the opening of ‘‘Starved’’, which kicks the album off, or the buildup into the rolling riff in “Imposter Syndrome”, as well as the small guitar lick in “Superspreader”. It’s a 6 minute burst of energy at the start of this 17 minute EP, before things drastically slow down for the finale.

The second side, “the slow side”, comprises the monolithic “Emptiness”. It’s an 11 minute death/doom song, the band’s longest to date, and is a continuation of some of the ideas we saw on the sophomore album. The band here experiments with different structures, acoustics, and even dip their toes into completely foreign sounds to them. The longer song duration allows the band to get the most out of sections like the melodic lead at 3:18 and the black metal influenced section at 9:13. It provides a great end to this short release, as well as a potential hint as to what we could expect from the band in the future.

While this is an all around good release, it’s not without drawbacks. Even though powerviolence as a genre is built on short but energetic tracks that come and go, I would’ve liked to see the songs on the “Blastcreeper” side to be longer and expanded upon further. There’s also the fact that this release might appear unbalanced to a lot of people due to the dichotomy between its two sides. I don’t find it to be much of an issue and actually enjoy the contrast between the two parts, since the second part of the release offers a great change of pace compared to what preceded it.

Lyrically the release dabbles in mostly emotional themes, such as a loved one leaving, infatuation and heartbreak. There are also themes of aimlessness, imposter syndrome (in case the song name wasn’t enough of a giveaway), and a virus spreading around, which is very fitting with how the world is right now. Chase Mason also steps his vocal game up, utilising multiple styles throughout this release, all of them to great effect. The fast side is dominated by his hardcore bark, while on the slow side he makes use of a low growl and some black metal shrieks near the end, which we get some glimpses of throughout the EP.

The production is handled yet again by Kurt Ballou, and he does a pretty great job all around. The guitars have an aggressive buzzsaw sound, the drums are punchy and provide a very strong backbone for the rest of the band to expand on, and the bass rumbles underneath. The mix is for the most part really good, with the exception of the bass, which is mostly lost during the fast side and can only be heard during “Emptiness”. It’s a shame, because had it been a bit higher in the mix it could’ve greatly enhanced the pummeling nature of the faster songs.

An Unexpected Reality is a mostly successful experiment by Gatecreeper, and is sure to satisfy any long time fans. The ideas on display are great and beg to be further developed in the future, and to say that I’m keenly interested in seeing what their next release will be like is an understatement.

Highlights: Rusted Gold, Imposter Syndrome, Depraved Not Deprived, Emptiness

Rating: 74%