Gatecreeper – Dark Superstition (Review)

This is the third album from US death metallers Gatecreeper.

Gatecreeper are always a reliable source of crushing old-school death metal carnage. Both 2016’s Sonoran Depravation and 2019’s Deserted were solid slabs of heaviness, (I also really enjoyed their 2018 split with Iron Reagan), so checking out the 37-minute Dark Superstition was mandatory.

Dark Superstition is a very enjoyable record. But, it might not be the one that you were expecting. The band have progressed their style, resulting in a record that’s likely their most popular yet.

On Dark Superstition Gatecreeper have taken their core sound and enriched it with greater melody and a few different creative ideas. The songwriting has been refined, offering a song-based format with an emphasis on hooks and dynamic energy. The album succeeds in taking Gatecreeper’s love of old-school Swedish death metal of the early Entombed and Dismember variety and enriching it with a wider set of 90s influences, such as Gothic metal and melodic death metal. The promo blurb mentions comparisons to the shift in style that bands like Paradise Lost and Entombed underwent in the mid-90s, and you can understand why; Gatecreeper are travelling down similar paths, with a melodic swagger and stadium-friendly confidence that comes through strongly in the songs.

Gatecreeper’s old-school death metal is present and correct, (manifesting most purely on the brutal Masterpiece of Chaos), but they’re not afraid to spread their wings on these new songs – which is where those wider 90s comparisons come in. There’s chainsaw butchery and melodic colour aplenty on Dark Superstition, but also a dark Gothic metal flavour, (on The Black Curtain and Flesh Habit in particular), and traditional metal songsmithing, (opener Dead Star sets the scene nicely with some prime metallic flourishes). Also, the album is saturated in melodic death metal from the same 90s time period. This is apparent throughout the record, but most notably in songs like the utterly ripping A Chilling Aura. Finally, the closing song Tears Fall from the Sky sees the band embrace their atmospheric death/doom side, to great effect.

Gatecreeper’s third album is a surefire hit. It displays a decent diversity of delivery, and is basically a well-written, well-crafted album. Play loud and kick out the jams with Gatecreeper.

Very highly recommended.