THE GATES OF SLUMBER · The Awakening | BLACK LP

Black vinyl in gatefold cover.

Background information about 'The Awakening'

There are records that hit you like a battleaxe to the gut, and then there are records that are the battleaxe. The Gates of Slumber and their crushing 2004 debut The Awakening fall firmly into the second camp. This is raw, slow, monolithic traditional doom the way it was meant to be played: riffs so heavy they feel like they're being dragged through wet concrete, leads so mournful they could bring a funeral to a standstill. From the very first note, you know you're in the hands of people who worship at the altar of the true doom masters.

The influence of Pentagram and Candlemass is all over this thing, but it never feels like mere imitation. Karl Simon and company take those classic building blocks and push them into something grittier, dirtier, more feral. The vocals carry that unmistakable Ozzy-like wail, while the lyrical themes lean into the Conan-school of sword-and-sorcery dread. It's an essential cult classic, the kind of album that doom heads have been hunting down for years, and now Svart Records is finally bringing it back where it belongs.

This is the sound of a band finding its voice in the most punishing way possible. There's a raw, almost demo-like grit to the production that only adds to the menace. Every slow, monolithic riff lands with the weight of a collapsing cathedral, and the depressing, slow-burning leads twist the knife exactly where it hurts. If you've ever spent a night getting lost in the darker corners of traditional doom, The Awakening is the record you've been waiting to own.

For fans of:
Pentagram, Candlemass, Reverend Bizarre, Solitude Aeturnus, Saint Vitus

Other Versions

CD · 15,99 € ORANGE LP · 29,99 €

Track listing

A1. Hell
A2. The Awakening
A3. The Judge
A4. The Jury
B1. Broken On The Wheel
B2. The Executioner
B3. Blessed Pathway To The Celestial Kingdom
B4. The Burial

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