THE GATES OF SLUMBER · Like Plague Upon The Land | BLACK LP

Black vinyl in standard cover.

Background information about 'Like Plague Upon The Land'

There are reissues that feel like a polite nod to the past, and then there are reissues that hit like a freight train of molten lead. This one is very much the latter. The Gates of Slumber's 2005 EP Like a Plague Upon the Land finally gets the vinyl treatment it always deserved, and honestly, it's about damn time. This was the record where Karl Simon and company locked into that crushing, 70s-soaked doom groove and simply refused to let go. It's slow, it's heavy, and it swings with the kind of weight that makes your speakers beg for mercy.

What strikes you immediately is how authentic this thing is. There's no polish, no modern studio sheen sanding the edges off — just pure, traditional doom that sounds like it was unearthed from a basement in 1975 and left to fester in the best possible way. The riffs are monolithic, the tempos are glacial, and Simon's vocals carry that world-weary, almost mournful quality that separates true doom from mere imitation. You can hear the ghosts of Saint Vitus and Reverend Bizarre haunting every downstroke, but the band never sounds like a tribute act. They sound like they own this sound.

The EP is a punchy, hard-hitting burst of fan-favorite material, never before pressed to wax, which makes this reissue something of an event for the faithful. From the opening lurch of the title track's creeping dread to the final, exhausted collapse, Like a Plague Upon the Land is a masterclass in doing more with less — less speed, less flash, more sheer gravitational force. This is doom metal as it was meant to be: traditional, unadorned, and utterly devastating.

For fans of:
Saint Vitus, Reverend Bizarre, Pentagram, Candlemass, Trouble

Track listing

A1. Iron Hammer
A2. The Leech
B1. Feast Of The Dead
B2. Ask No More
B3. Stitched Back From Deth

Manufacturer: Oy Svart Musik Ab, Saippua Center, Ruissalontie 12C, laituri O, 20200 Turku, Finland, Contact: www.svartrecords.com