Every once in a while you stumble across a band who truly understand the post metal aesthetic. Gates To The Morning is one such band. The deeply conceptual and inherently fascinating masterwork that is Return To Earth is grandiose in its scope and constantly encourages the listener to dig deeper. This is a potent work full of layers and novel twists and turns. In a world where metal often falls into the same tropes, Gates To The Morning build on old formulas with powerful songwriting and tormented souls.
I think what really gets me about this record, and has fascinated me since I got the demos six months ago is the variety of musical colors. The band has had a unique ability to bring in a diverse set of elements and then make them all work in the overarching vision of the project. A track like the somber Chapel Perilous should have no place sitting next to moments of raging black metal, and yet somehow Gates To The Morning pull it off. Return To Earth is a thrilling voyage between dark and light. It continually pushes the band to new heights and forces you to embrace the inherent madness of the genre.
This is the sort of post black metal record that you can get truly lost in. It's symphonic and powerful. It's aware of its own scope, but also its limitations. While this is certainly a bold effort sometimes it doesn't quite hit the peaks it so longs for. Still, there is so much promise here that it would be remiss to ignore what Gates To The Morning are working on. This post metal epic takes the listener on a journey. It continually shows the bands ambition and hints at much more to come. If you can't get on board with that, then the hype train will leave without you.
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https://www.facebook.com/gatestothemorning/
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