The Gates of Slumber – Conqueror

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The US trio still proclaim their doom metal style at every turn, and Karl Simon’s vocals, guitar tone and fuzzy solos scream “doom”, but many of The Gates of Slumber’s songs are much more traditional. Fast-paced tracks like The Machine and Trapped In The Web sound heavily Iron Maiden influenced, particularly in the solo department, and in actual fact these are better than their doom tracks, which suffer from the typically present danger all doom risks of being too slow and boring (although the solos are still there). The four-part, sixteen-minute epic Dark Valley Suite more than any other proves this. Apart from the guitar solo in the first six minutes and the fast rhythms and riffs in the final minute, nothing else for the whole track, which shifts from slow and heavy and slow and quiet a couple of times, offers any interest. The Garden (Cathedral) it is not. A couple of other tracks (Ice Worm, To Kill And Be King) have a bit of pace to them and sound closer to some of the epic doom bands in the genre, but like the slow tracks, there’s no variation and little-to-no urgency. All in, it’s an average album, but not especially compelling.

Written by Andy Lye
More: Albums, Doom Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, The Gates of Slumber