The Gates of Slumber

by Kyle Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:01 am

Hailing from Indiana these guys have been at the forefront of doom and heavy metal for the past decade. First bludgeoning us with their first album The Awakening, offering their slab of metal up to the great goddess of doom. Influences are easy to spot here: Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Cirith Ungol, and the like. With Suffer No Guilt, not only exploring themes of Robert E. Howard's character Conan but also depictions of war and bloodshed and the troubles in the Middle East that has been going since the Crusades. These guys develop a style all their own and some including myself find this to be their masterpiece. The following album, Conqueror, takes a turn to explore their traditional metal influences, taking their signature sounds and taking more cues from such greats as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and such. Shorter songs are present, but blistering and heavy as always and the musicianship is up to par as always. The album also includes a rather intimate homage to Robert E. Howard, a four part epic dedicated exclusively to the author with a recitation of "Lines Written in the Knowledge that I Must Die" set to music. Their new album Hymns of Blood and Thunder is due out at the end of the month, Sept. 29. Can't really go wrong with anything from this band, so if you've not checked them out, do yourself a favor.