Band Site: www.gatesofhellrecords.com/

 

I have to give these Belgians extra kudos for the interesting stage names and well written, informative and fun bio. Here's an excerpt:

“Combining the worst elements with the filthiest attitudes from each of their respective record collections the duo set out to recruit the suitable deviants they required to execute this devilish deed and after a year searching every back alley, dive bar and shady street corner Brussels had to offer, the lineup was finally solidified in 2018 with Alcoloic (Drums), SlimeValdi (Guitarmony) and Sniffany Baggs (Bass). “

Unfortunately, that's where pretty much it all starts and ends with me. The production is decent although slathered with very heavy reverb, I guess in order to conjur an 80s throwback vibe.

The opener, “Steel for Life” borrows heavily from “Am I Evil” and it really adds no value to the LP besides some minor wankage points for the guitarists.

“Devil in Transport” comes in sounding quite close to early Angelwitch or maybe one of the early Enforcer albums. Both Enforcer and Angelwitch do this much much better. This one has some decent riffs, pounding double bass drumming, but the out of tune, over-reverberated vocals kill it for me.

The album pretty much continues in the same vein, with pretty much atrocious vocal performance throughout and nothing memorable to add on the instruments, well, maybe some decent leads, but I've heard all these before...and I've heard it better.

“Metal and More” showed the most promise, as Lord Terrifiant sings with his real voice vs the awful falsetto delivery found on most songs. I think this might be a better direction to go in the future.

“Heartbreaker” is a Pat Benatar cover, or I should say a Pat Benatar abortion. She should probably call and request that the band pull that song out of production. There is still time as album will begin assaulting good taste on 21 February, 2020.

Overall, decent, but boring musicianship, and absolutely horrific vocals.

Hello, Gates of Hell, where do you find these bands? I can personally give you several local bands that are absolute killer in comparison to these guys, you certainly didn't pick a winner on this one.

Listeners – early Enforcer is great for throwback metal, or just look up the genre originators, even B and C listers, like Angelwitch, Manilla Road, Diamond Head, Cloven Hoof, Tank do this way way better.

Reviewed by A. Dorian