by Hugo Reyes (@hvreyes5)
I’ve tried to not narrowly view art through the prism of the pandemic even though it is so alluring. Falling on that crutch ultimately leads to a shallow engagement that helps nobody. I’m partially outing myself here for being lazy, but it would be disrespectful to avoid the pandemic when talking about An Unexpected Reality, the surprise release from death metal band Gatecreeper. The second to last song on the record is called “Superspreader,” that alone tells you the conditions the songs were written under.
Calling An Unexpected Reality solely a pandemic record isn’t quite right though. The germination of it dates back to 2019, when the band was fresh off the release of their second record Deserted. At the time, writing a followup record felt like a daunting task, due to internal and external pressures. Instead, they decided to try a new creative exercise—make their version of Black Flag’s infamous record My War. Side A contained their typical fast 80’s hardcore, while side B contained sludgy metal songs. COVID just sped things up, making An Unexpected Reality come into focus and work as a place for the band to place their creative energy.
What you end up hearing on the first nine tracks is a straight adrenaline shot, finding the band leaning into grindcore more than on any other release. Grindcore has always been a neighbor of Death Metal but it feels more apparent when you hear the 31 second song “Amputation”. Not a second is wasted. Guitar parts are thrown away like it’s no big deal. They finally add some blast beats to songs, which isn’t one of their typical moves.
Of course a review of An Unexpected Reality would be incomplete without mention of the eleven minute closer, “Emptiness,” the longest song in their catalogue by a wide margin. It’s their doomiest track by far but doesn’t feel like an impossible stretch or a misfire. Rather, it works as an extension of previous closing tracks, really allowing the band to flex their songwriting chops, and explore some new territory.
An Unexpected Reality is a surprise in the Gatecreeper catalogue, the one that I’m not sure anyone saw coming. What makes it such a fascinating object is that the following release may be completely different. No matter what comes in the future, it is a welcomed detour, allowing the band to try a new thing without defiantly saying, “this is our new sound. Deal with it.” What it ends up as is the band's best work yet.