Review by Rosh on December 25, 2021.

Being a heavyweight in the modern realms of traditional doom and heavy metal requires channeling the attitude of veterans from decades past, otherwise it's bound to be by-the-numbers stuff. As it happens, Indiana's The Gates Of Slumber are basically the undisputed, larger than life, balls-out, warring doom gods, and everyone into bands from Saint Vitus to Manilla Road loves them to death. How could they not? Each of their records is the distinct face of a tumultuous journey through a darkened, insurmountable, wartorn, and treacherous world. However, while Suffer No Guilt is so massive in scale and delivery that it feels inaccessible upon first listen, the last few The Gates Of Slumber albums have offered more approachable warrior's doom. Signing to a label like Rise Above Records for 2009's Hymns Of Blood And Thunder, though, it should come as no surprise that the band still retains their unique personality and thunderous sound, despite writing more concise material.

Now, Hymns... was the first The Gates Of Slumber album I heard, and that was back when I was just getting into the basic old school doom metal bands, Trouble, Saint Vitus, and Pentagram and what have you. As soon as 'Chaos Calling' went into full-swing with the driving verse riffs, I couldn't believe what I was missing before - certainly proof that quality is to be found anywhere if you dig for it. The Gates Of Slumber are one of the very best doom bands located deeper into their niche (but still well known overall).

So, the two opening bangers, 'Chaos Calling' and 'Death Dealer' hook you in and make you bang your head a whole bunch, making it clear that you've stumbled upon same damn good metal. Along those same lines, it's not just the in-your-face anthems that do this either, because the slower doom metal songs on Hymns... like 'Beneath The Eye Of Mars' and 'The Doom Of Aceldama' still remind you that you're listening to a metal album, balancing the doom and the metal, hence doom (fucking) metal. These guys are able to capture a more epic (although still sorrowful and grim) atmosphere than before on the slower songs, 'Doom Of Aceldama' and 'Descent Into Madness' especially. It's more melodic whereas Suffer No Guilt was very much just a barbarian bludgeoning. I think Conqueror was where this more melodic trend began for The Gates Of Slumber. However, what they do on the newer albums isn't really like Candlemass' "epic doom" - I would more compare it to the theatrical feel of Lord Vicar and Reverend Bizarre except it's American made obviously.

This album does really well with the deep cuts. The second half opens with 'The Bringer Of War' which is one of the most bludgeoning doom/heavy metal songs I've heard to this day, and after Karl sings the first line, the riff hits you in the gut like 10,000 sledgehammers. It literally brings iron and steel to mind with the warlike themes. On that point, reaching the final track, 'Blood And Thunder', is quite literally like prevailing in a lengthy battle with only mace and chain or sword and shield at hand, the scars on your beaten body reflecting immeasurable sacrifice.

Get Hymns Of Blood And Thunder if you want some classy, ballsy, larger than life doom metal in your listening diet. There's quite a well-balanced and strong tracklist to be found here, and it serves as a damn fine introduction to this stronghold of a modern doom band. Nothing here really comes off as a weakness. This band is basically the Bolt Thrower of doom metal, do I really need to say anymore?

Rating: 9.3 out of 10

Review by Rosh on December 25, 2021.

Being a heavyweight in the modern realms of traditional doom and heavy metal requires channeling the attitude of veterans from decades past, otherwise it's bound to be by-the-numbers stuff. As it happens, Indiana's The Gates Of Slumber are basically the undisputed, larger than life, balls-out, warring doom gods, and everyone into bands from Saint Vitus to Manilla Road loves them to death. How could they not? Each of their records is the distinct face of a tumultuous journey through a darkened, insurmountable, wartorn, and treacherous world. However, while Suffer No Guilt is so massive in scale and delivery that it feels inaccessible upon first listen, the last few The Gates Of Slumber albums have offered more approachable warrior's doom. Signing to a label like Rise Above Records for 2009's Hymns Of Blood And Thunder, though, it should come as no surprise that the band still retains their unique personality and thunderous sound, despite writing more concise material.

Now, Hymns... was the first The Gates Of Slumber album I heard, and that was back when I was just getting into the basic old school doom metal bands, Trouble, Saint Vitus, and Pentagram and what have you. As soon as 'Chaos Calling' went into full-swing with the driving verse riffs, I couldn't believe what I was missing before - certainly proof that quality is to be found anywhere if you dig for it. The Gates Of Slumber are one of the very best doom bands located deeper into their niche (but still well known overall).

So, the two opening bangers, 'Chaos Calling' and 'Death Dealer' hook you in and make you bang your head a whole bunch, making it clear that you've stumbled upon same damn good metal. Along those same lines, it's not just the in-your-face anthems that do this either, because the slower doom metal songs on Hymns... like 'Beneath The Eye Of Mars' and 'The Doom Of Aceldama' still remind you that you're listening to a metal album, balancing the doom and the metal, hence doom (fucking) metal. These guys are able to capture a more epic (although still sorrowful and grim) atmosphere than before on the slower songs, 'Doom Of Aceldama' and 'Descent Into Madness' especially. It's more melodic whereas Suffer No Guilt was very much just a barbarian bludgeoning. I think Conqueror was where this more melodic trend began for The Gates Of Slumber. However, what they do on the newer albums isn't really like Candlemass' "epic doom" - I would more compare it to the theatrical feel of Lord Vicar and Reverend Bizarre except it's American made obviously.

This album does really well with the deep cuts. The second half opens with 'The Bringer Of War' which is one of the most bludgeoning doom/heavy metal songs I've heard to this day, and after Karl sings the first line, the riff hits you in the gut like 10,000 sledgehammers. It literally brings iron and steel to mind with the warlike themes. On that point, reaching the final track, 'Blood And Thunder', is quite literally like prevailing in a lengthy battle with only mace and chain or sword and shield at hand, the scars on your beaten body reflecting immeasurable sacrifice.

Get Hymns Of Blood And Thunder if you want some classy, ballsy, larger than life doom metal in your listening diet. There's quite a well-balanced and strong tracklist to be found here, and it serves as a damn fine introduction to this stronghold of a modern doom band. Nothing here really comes off as a weakness. This band is basically the Bolt Thrower of doom metal, do I really need to say anymore?

Rating: 9.3 out of 10

Review by Lawrence Stillman on October 9, 2024.

Sometimes you come across a band or project that has everything figured out right from the start, and you begin to wonder if the composer had clairvoyance during the band's creation. Well, this band is one of those examples; their debut already showed tonnes of promise and laid the foundation of the sound that their later albums would adopt. Ranging from the keyboard elements here to the bright and sunny-sounding guitar melodies and its progressive elements. This album sounded closer to a fusion of Jester Race and The Gallery compared to their later stuff, but with all their pitfalls fixed and executed better, like how a progressive melodeath album should sound.

Even with the aforementioned fusion and patches, do not expect something similar to Jester and Gallery cobbled together; instead, treat this album like its own separate entity that just happened to take influences from both. The short song lengths only serve to conceal the myriad sounds and melodies the album possesses; it is a simultaneous assault of guitars, drums, and keyboards, with the occasional vocals chiming in and giving the song more power. But what sets this album apart from its two sequels are the metalcore breakdowns, which I really dislike (you should already be alerted when the genre tags have metalcore in them). The breakdowns here are even more numerous than their sophomore (with the third album shedding metalcore elements completely), but do not let that dissuade you; it is still a very good melodeath album full of interesting Maiden-esque melodies and solos that still sound heavy and fun.

The guitars here sound unusually sunny and cheerful, but at the same time, they can also sound very heavy and dark with the assistance of keyboards. In theory, I should really dislike this album because I criticize the same thing in Jester Race, but the cheery guitars never overpower the soundscape all the time, and instead, they serve as a contrast to the darker parts enhanced by the sorrowful keyboards. This is what I wished melodic death metal could be: using Maiden-esque leads for bright and cheerful sections while building a contrast where it leaps into musical darkness.

Speaking of keyboards, one thing I would like to point out that really gave this project its identity among the sea of bands that are progressive metal is that the keyboards here serve more of an atmospheric and background role instead of a leading role. It sounded closer to a Dream Theatre and Iron Maiden keyboard instead of the electronic-sounding keyboards that were popular when this album came out, but this is not to say the keyboards completely avoid the electronic sounds too; they are still present, especially in the intro track (the rest of the album does not have this). We usually see keyboards in metal albums picking either electronic, prog, or symphonic sounds, but this keyboard is different; instead, it implements all three types of keyboard sounds, giving this album (and its two sequels) a richer and more unique soundscape. See what I mean when I say Japanese metal bands are very prone to experimentation and genre-busting?

The songwriting here is also excellent, but not in the usual way of "every song sounds different and unique". While the quoted sentence is still correct, my focus is instead on how the album foreshadows its future albums. For example, the last two songs foreshadow the lead riff of the very first song on their third full-length, and considering it was five years before that album even came out, you can already see just how much Mr. Sweden has planned for his projects, but at the same time, playing the same riff here in the last song makes it sound very different from what it would sound like in the third full length. There is more foreshadowing in this album for RCEG's future works, but where is the fun if I spoil you on that?

Despite this album having some flaws that can be hard to overlook, like the buried bass and a bigger presence of metalcore breakdowns (drum machine is not the problem here; extreme metal is very niche in Japan; it's likely that the band tried to find a drummer but failed), Dimersity 01 is a promising look into what beastly entity RCEG would grow into within five years after this came out. This one is definitely for fans of albums like "Nebularium" or "Purgatory Afterglow".

Highlights: 'Die Bravely Today','From The Deepest Space','Sigh Of The Void','Like The Sleeping Beauty'

Rating: 9.3 out of 10

Review by Lawrence Stillman on October 9, 2024.

Sometimes you come across a band or project that has everything figured out right from the start, and you begin to wonder if the composer had clairvoyance during the band's creation. Well, this band is one of those examples; their debut already showed tonnes of promise and laid the foundation of the sound that their later albums would adopt. Ranging from the keyboard elements here to the bright and sunny-sounding guitar melodies and its progressive elements. This album sounded closer to a fusion of Jester Race and The Gallery compared to their later stuff, but with all their pitfalls fixed and executed better, like how a progressive melodeath album should sound.

Even with the aforementioned fusion and patches, do not expect something similar to Jester and Gallery cobbled together; instead, treat this album like its own separate entity that just happened to take influences from both. The short song lengths only serve to conceal the myriad sounds and melodies the album possesses; it is a simultaneous assault of guitars, drums, and keyboards, with the occasional vocals chiming in and giving the song more power. But what sets this album apart from its two sequels are the metalcore breakdowns, which I really dislike (you should already be alerted when the genre tags have metalcore in them). The breakdowns here are even more numerous than their sophomore (with the third album shedding metalcore elements completely), but do not let that dissuade you; it is still a very good melodeath album full of interesting Maiden-esque melodies and solos that still sound heavy and fun.

The guitars here sound unusually sunny and cheerful, but at the same time, they can also sound very heavy and dark with the assistance of keyboards. In theory, I should really dislike this album because I criticize the same thing in Jester Race, but the cheery guitars never overpower the soundscape all the time, and instead, they serve as a contrast to the darker parts enhanced by the sorrowful keyboards. This is what I wished melodic death metal could be: using Maiden-esque leads for bright and cheerful sections while building a contrast where it leaps into musical darkness.

Speaking of keyboards, one thing I would like to point out that really gave this project its identity among the sea of bands that are progressive metal is that the keyboards here serve more of an atmospheric and background role instead of a leading role. It sounded closer to a Dream Theatre and Iron Maiden keyboard instead of the electronic-sounding keyboards that were popular when this album came out, but this is not to say the keyboards completely avoid the electronic sounds too; they are still present, especially in the intro track (the rest of the album does not have this). We usually see keyboards in metal albums picking either electronic, prog, or symphonic sounds, but this keyboard is different; instead, it implements all three types of keyboard sounds, giving this album (and its two sequels) a richer and more unique soundscape. See what I mean when I say Japanese metal bands are very prone to experimentation and genre-busting?

The songwriting here is also excellent, but not in the usual way of "every song sounds different and unique". While the quoted sentence is still correct, my focus is instead on how the album foreshadows its future albums. For example, the last two songs foreshadow the lead riff of the very first song on their third full-length, and considering it was five years before that album even came out, you can already see just how much Mr. Sweden has planned for his projects, but at the same time, playing the same riff here in the last song makes it sound very different from what it would sound like in the third full length. There is more foreshadowing in this album for RCEG's future works, but where is the fun if I spoil you on that?

Despite this album having some flaws that can be hard to overlook, like the buried bass and a bigger presence of metalcore breakdowns (drum machine is not the problem here; extreme metal is very niche in Japan; it's likely that the band tried to find a drummer but failed), Dimersity 01 is a promising look into what beastly entity RCEG would grow into within five years after this came out. This one is definitely for fans of albums like "Nebularium" or "Purgatory Afterglow".

Highlights: 'Die Bravely Today','From The Deepest Space','Sigh Of The Void','Like The Sleeping Beauty'

Rating: 9.3 out of 10