Review by Vladimir on March 4, 2024.

Alright folks, it is time to enter the brimstone portal with the main subject of this review. This topic will be covering the German black/death metal band Brimstone Gate from Hamm, with their debut full-length album Return From The Brimstone Portal, released on February 4th, 2023 via A.D.G Records. 

Brimstone Gate hands out some solid work that combines musical elements of both black and death metal, quite often bordering with each other while still managing to find a golden middle between both extreme metal subgenres. What’s interesting is that the songs have a really good use of guitar melodies which are often leaning towards that melodic black/death metal approach, especially when combined with the traditional genre traits that include tremolo picking riffs, double-bass drumming, blast beats and harsh shouting vocals. The greatest strength within these songs definitely lies in the band’s overall performance and immense expression through the musicality, however, their aggression that flows through the riffs really crawls under the skin that could make you feel you really want to punch a big hole in the wall. 

The album has some strong and dynamic songwriting with very smooth transitioning between sections, whilst always staying within the realm of both black and death metal. Brimstone Gate actually managed to make the arrangement in every song feel rich and interesting, with a strong sense of natural progression as the album goes track by track. I think that the biggest highlight of this album is the well-balanced use of ideas from both black and death metal, which as I said before, maintains both aspects on the same level to find a golden middle between the two. The only thing I don’t like about the album is the cover, which was obviously AI generated and as a result, it truly looks awful. The overall idea about the album art depicting lost souls standing in front of a gateway surrounded by fire doesn’t seem bad at all, but what we got here is just so artificial and soulless that it really has no style, I seriously can’t tell where it starts and where it ends. The production of this album is actually very strong and very solid, providing a modern quality sound that truly captured the musical essence of Brimstone Gate. 

Overall, despite my general disliking of the AI generated cover art, the musical output is what matters the most in the end, and I’d say that Brimstone Gate actually did a pretty good job with that. Their first album definitely seems like it has a real sense of artistic direction and strong willpower that could only be further expanded with even better material. This one was certainly worth the while and I actually recommend that you give it a go. 

Rating: 7.8 out of 10