Living Gate - Deathlust

Labels: Relapse Records

Formats: Vinyl/CD/Digital

Release Date: 12 Jun 2020

Tracklist:

1. The Delusion Of Consciousness

2. Roped

3. Deathlust

4. Heaven Ablaze

5. Living Gate

Here's an exciting release from a band that's rooted in both Europe (Belgium to be exact) and the United States. Sharing members with some of the modern greats of extreme metal and hardcore, Living Gate released their debut EP in June via Relapse Records. The detailed cover art that adorns this record dragged me in and hopefully, I'll get spat out at the other end!.

I get asked all the time about why I hammer my keyboard so hard at work. It’s because I imagine that I’m writing about music like this! Given the other bands in which these guys call home, their death metal is totally nasty. It’s definitely more on the old-school side. Opener ‘The Delusion Of Consciousness’ mixes doom/death with grind and thrash. That’s a heavy list of sub-genres and while not inaccurate, Living Gate surpasses mere pigeonholing through sheer skill.

The technicality is real without being overpowering and ‘Roped” is a song that straddles time-signatures and tempos, becoming a beast with many legs in the process. The multi-vocal approach is truly devastating, while the riffs are both melodic and razor-sharp when they meed to be. The percussion and bass offer plenty of rhythmic battery that’s perfect for the music.

There’s no rest in between songs and the title-track ‘Deathlust’ is filled to the brim with brutal urgency thanks to some manic blasting. It’s shorter in length but there’s still plenty of gloomy death metal to keep you interested, as well as a sick guitar solo towards the end. Breathtaking!

‘Heaven Ablaze’ comes out of nowhere with the sole aim of flattening you and leaving no trace. Again, it’s fast and heavy but there’s also a nod to bands like Cynic and Atheist within Living Gate’s technical musicianship and occasional jazz/blues-like guitar work. Before you know it, you’re heading face first into the final song on a release that goes by all too quickly.

The final song is question is the band’s namesake ‘Living Gate’ and it embodies exactly what they’re about. A heady mix of everything that makes extreme metal great rolled into one sub five-minute song. It’s the final blow on what is a superb debut record. There’s no messing around here. Living Gate are in it for the long-haul (hopefully).

You can stream Deathlust and buy it on all formats below:-

Living Gate - https://www.facebook.com/LivingGate666/

Relapse Records - https://www.facebook.com/RelapseRecords/