Gatecreeper is not the first modern band to worship at the altar of the Boss HM-2 guitar tone favored by such early Swedish death metal pioneers as Nihilist and Carnage, but there's no denying they've mastered the style. Despite the fact that the Arizona outfit has yet to release a full-length, their 2014 self-titled EP and split 7" with Take Over and Destroy have gotten ample play on my iTunes as of late.
"Carved Into Stone" is Gatecreeper's latest dose of OSDM and it comes off of 4-Way Split, a collaboration with Homewrecker, Outer Heaven, and Scorched. The track starts off with a slow crawl of a riff that eventually erupts into a quicker tempo section that brings you back to the first time you air-drummed to Left Hand Path. Each section of "Carved Into Stone" segues perfectly into each other, showing off a wise songwriting style, something many other groups doing the whole Swedish death metal thing these days need to take notice of.
I'm not certain when Gatecreeper will finally hit us with their first album, but I can't recommend their young discography enough. As a matter of fact, after you pick up this new track, keep an eye out for the band's upcoming split single with Young and in the Way.
Download "Carved Into Stone" on Bandcamp.
