Before you read any further you need to ask yourself \”Do I like brutal death metal?\” If you do, then you need to check out Deserted, the new album from Arizona band Gatecreeper. From the slow doom of the opening title track to the final notes of Absence of Light you get slamming riffage and crushing vocals, creating a wickedly satisfying brand of gourmet death metal. As Gatecreeper have proven on their previous releases, they know how to write songs that metalheads can love without pandering to any kind of music business bullshit.

Instead these songs pulp the brain while simultaneously pleasing the eardrums, that is if you find unrelenting abrasive noise soothing (like I do). The production, ohmygod the production, on Deserted is so fucking perfect. I mean, if you like Gatecreeper and want to hear them at their very best, you need to get this album toot fucking sweet. If you’re not as immediately impressed as I was, well that’s your problem. Jim Dodge