Artist: Gates Of Dawn
Country: USA
Label: Death Hymns
Formats: LP
Year: 2025
Not too long ago Gates Of Dawn treated us with a cassette tape in the form of ‘III – Promo 2025’ and as well as with a split 7” EP with Sanguine Relic. So we were already somewhat prepared for the arrival of this unique band’s third album. Still, there is only so much you can really be “prepared” for when it comes to Gates Of Dawn. The name of the band in itself is as cheesy and cliché as band names come, but in a way this really feels like a perfect moniker for a band that really has never cared for boundaries and the otherwise rather conservative values in Black Metal.
Honestly, not everything the band had done before had clicked for me. Sometimes it felt to me as if they deliberately made everything as complex and “sophisticated” as possible, with the result that it all came across as somewhat forced and artificial. But the irony is that with ‘III’, not only have they taken everything a few steps further, but it also seems to fit much better now. Needless to say, you still have to be very open-minded and, now more than ever before, ‘III’ requires a wide-taste and understanding of music as a whole.
Because the slightly early Alcest and Woods Of Infinity-based Black Metal is now fully reduced to only the fundament of what Gates Of Dawn is. A firm fundament, yes, but quite literally only a base. The rest of the experience that Gates Of Dawn is offering exists out of Jazz, Jazz-Rock, Prog Rock, Americana, Psychedelic Rock, Blues Rock, Folk and Space Rock.
The label describes as this album touching the basics of bands like Tangerine Dream, Force Majeurie, The Grateful Dead and The Allman Brothers. And that sums it up rather well. Those who thought that coming forth with a split 7” EP with Sanguine Relic would mean that Gates Of Dawn would take a U-turn back into the more traditional aesthetics of Black Metal will be caught by surprise. Nothing of that all, on the contrary, even. The few times the band harkens back to those punky, upbeat fundamentals, it is still very much in an experimental way, clearly conveying an unsettling atmosphere in more way than just one.
This is the sort of album that will have a rather hard time landing, at least landing with the “right” people. People who can appreciate it for what it is. The problem with such crossover acts, that combine such seemingly incompatible and almost opposing genres, is that the Black Metal fans find this just a bridge too far in terms of its experimenting and downright oddities and those who actually like all that proggy stuff might find the harsh vocals a bit hard to swallow. However, it must be said that the vocals are actually sparingly sprinkled throughout the album, with the majority being instrumental, clearly emphasising the musical ingenuity of the individual performers.
But, if you feel ready for something completely different and consider yourself an open-minded person – or, if you just like to feel challenged and don’t care to have to invest a bit of dedication to a piece of music, ‘III’ is an album that slowly unfolds and start to give away its secrecies only bit by bit. An absolutely gorgeous album that shows Gates Of Dawn’s musicians to be extremely talented in both execution and their boundless visionary approach to Black Metal – or what is left of it.
