Some may argue that the brutal death metal scene in the US is oversaturated and repetitive due to the countless underground bands that perform the genre. And, while some of this may be the case, there still exist numerous noteworthy additions to the bdm community that strive to expand the style (and, consequently, the palates of their listeners) and give their own brutal take on it. Gates of Tartarus began around 2015 as an internet project consisting of duo Tyler (of brutal tech death project Despondent) and Tommy (from slam band Necroexophilia), with the former writing the majority of the band's music and instrumentals. With that said, today we will look at the debut EP that just recently got dropped on our heads by Gates of Tartarus...and talk about why you should listen to it, too.
Ascent of the Titans stands boldly as the very first brutal addition to the band's discography. Interestingly enough, the road to this EP's release was a quite bumpy one to say the least. Originally planned as an eight song record to be released back in 2016, Ascent of the Titans was postponed initially back then due to numerous reasons; mainly stemming from time and money constraints. Even though a couple singles were unveiled by Gates of Tartarus, production halted and the project seemingly went on an indefinite hiatus, with the duo parting ways. Eventually, however, the rest of the EP was finished by Tyler with the aid and vocal talents of Dillon Becker (whom some of you may know from Animal Farm). Dillon & Tyler soon recorded five additional tracks together, all of which would become the main content for Ascent of the Titans, with the aforementioned Tommy singles and a demo track being added onto the CD as extras. Ultimately, the EP saw a late August release on Transcending Records and that brings us to this very moment.
The EP opens up with a rather eerie atmospheric backdrop intro accompanied by a voiceover. Then, about thirty seconds in, the gutturals flood in and the riffs take over the scenery. From the start, it's clear that the EP is going for a more slammy tone as evidenced by the palm muted chromatics and low vocals. Overall though, there are also some deathcore as well as downtempo elements mixed in throughout, with a bit of chugging to boot. The production quality is a bit haphazard at times, but that's pretty par for the course here. Sometimes it felt as though the guitars could've been louder, as the rest of the instrumentals drowned out the riffs here and there. Usually I'd have the opposite issue when it comes to heavier releases, but the guitars sounded a bit tame sometimes. The riffs themselves, however, made up for this factor...with all the tremolo picking, slams, and fast paced shredding that a metalhead could ask for (though I also thought that some more guitar solo action couldn't hurt).
When it comes to the vocals, I thought that they were really solid throughout and never got too dull or monotonous. Sure it's mostly low gutturals, but I thought that they worked particularly well here. Also, the Dickie Allen guest spot on the second track 'Before The Judges of The Damned' is another high point for this release. The interchanging vocals coupled with the lightning pacing and structure of that track worked really well. I also really have to give it to 'Erebus' for coming out on top and being my personal fave off of Ascent of the Titans mainly due to its shifting vocals and breakdown patterns. That track in particular transitions quite a bit from the deathcore sound to the brutal death.
Then, when 'The River of Phlegethon' comes on, all hell breaks loose once again and the audience's senses are assaulted with full-force blast beats, double bass action, and some fairly technical and competent riffing. The chugging and growling continues until around the halfway point of the song, in which a sort of guitar solo kicks in before the song goes back to normal and closes, leaving us with the final mainline track of the EP. 'The Hydra' is one song on here that I'm not sure what to make of. It's not too much different from the others and it's ultimately a brief, but heavy closer. All in all, I didn't love or hate it.
With all that out of the way, the inclusion of the bonus tracks pads up the running time several more minutes. I don't have much to say about these songs other than the guest vocals from Slamophiliac on 'Vale of Mourning', which was a pleasant surprise for me. In general, this is a fairly brief listen of an EP.
All in all, while I've discussed quite a bit of details regarding Gates of Tartarus' debut EP, I just want to finish off by stating that Ascent of the Titans definitely has some notable quirks to it. Many of these irregularities set it apart from the rest...and, despite its short duration and little faults here and there, it's still a fairly solid brutal death release that is worth your time if you're into the modern type of slamming brutal death & slamcore styles. The riffs and vocals alone were enough to keep me around for its running time and the ambition from its creators is something to admire, especially given the circumstances of this release. At the end of the day, it's safe to say that I will be keeping a close eye on this band in the near future.
The Pros: Engaging instrumentals, good structure mostly towards the middle of the EP, decently brutal vocal variety throughout, guest spot from Dickie Allen, Eerie atmosphere
The Cons: Production quality is sometimes odd (guitars specifically), drags on towards the end, bonus tracks aren't much aside from the little guest vocal spots
Fave Tracks: 'Before The Judges of The Damned', 'Erebus', 'Vale of Mourning'
For Fans Of: Despondent, Infant Annihilator
**This release is available now here!**
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-Review by: Dave Raffy
Musician, reviewer, fan & promoter
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