The Gates Of Slumber – Live In Tempe Arizona
The Gates Of Slumber – Live In Tempe Arizona
Self-Released
Release Date: 28/02/2020
Running Time: 37:40
Review by Alun Jones
8/10
Right then, who’s up for some big, fat riffs played at a crawling, slow pace? You know I am. Never more ready. So, let’s plunge in and have a listen to this live opus from The Gates Of Slumber! I can promise you that TGOS not only have one of the best band names ever invented – they also do magnificently heavy, Sabbath influenced doom.
This gig was recorded live at the Clubhouse, in Tempe, Arizona – back in 2011, supporting the mighty Orange Goblin. You can almost feel the heat and smell the beer at the venue on this recording.
Starting out with ‘Bastards Born’, the riff is slow and menacing, with mournful vocals. Second track ‘Ice Worm’ ups the tempo a little, with a chugging groove. The highlight of the album is possibly the gloomy ‘Day Of Farwell’, which is allowed to breathe and sprawl, featuring some spellbinding guitar. ‘Coven Of Cain’ rocks out, before the band slow down to a monolithic pace for ‘The Wretch’. Moving those stones from South Wales to Salisbury to create Stonehenge was probably faster. Finally, the band are at their most Sabbath with the crunching ‘The Jury’.
Audience reaction is very low in the mix, and the sound is very clear, with no studio or soundboard trickery. What the listener is left with is a very honest representation of The Gates Of Slumber – those guitars and drums are free to go straight for the jugular. It might not be the sort of album that will blow the mind of the casual listener, but for anyone who’s schooled in the melancholy beauty of Saint Vitus and The Obsessed, this is a short but sweet treat.
Will that do for the review, guys? I’m knackered myself after last night. I wasn’t partying with Ozzy and Slash again, honest. I was up all night with Brian May, going on about his bloody astronomy. “Really Brian? That is fascinating. You don’t say? Yawn.” Didn’t get a wink of sleep.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Bastards Born
02. Ice Worm
03. Day Of Farewell
04. Coven Of Cain
05. The Wretch
06. The Jury
LINKS:
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