Hailing from the teeming heavy metal metropolis of Indianapolis (not!), where their debut album, The Awakening, fermented for over half-a-decade before seeing the light of day, the Gates of Slumber were automatically believed to be a doom band — in large part because of their rather suggestive moniker, but also because actual copies of the friggin’ record were so damn hard to find! Of course, once secured, said album’s contents showed that the group’s stylistic touchstones range across the classic metal spectrum: from Sabbath, to Priest, to Maiden, with other unexpected stops along the way (more on that below), which is a good thing since the doomier songs found here tend to be the weakest of the lot. Case in point: opening epic “The Awakening (Interpolating the Wrath of the Undead)” — a lethargic, lumbering beast introduced by screams of the condemned, which, except for its occasional hammer-on lead breaks and unexpected speed metal burst towards the end, does not bode well for what’s to follow. Next cut, “The Judge,” proves similarly anemic, but the Gates of Slumber finally wake up on the comparatively energetic, “The Jury,” featuring a rip-roaring bass intro that would get Lemmy’s approval, and sets it loping off down the highway like some iron-clad ostrich, or, more accurately, Welsh stoners Acrimony. “Broken on the Wheel” keeps the caffeine coming thanks to some memorable staccato riffing in its mid-section, and foreshadows more of the same on album standout, “The Executioner” — a veritable heavy metal single in the vein of vintage Priest, Maiden, and even (gulp!) early Mötley Crüe (before the glam rot set in). Sadly, the ensuing, steadily creeping mini-instrumental, “Blessed Pathway to the Celestial Kingdom,” falls well short of its effusive title, and the closing return-to-doom embodied by “The Burial” once again leaves something to be desired. With all that in mind, The Awakening is clearly prone to mixed results, and quite frankly underwhelming for those who witnessed the Gates of Slumber’s powerful live set, but it may score a few bonus points with fans of stripped down doom, devoid of the relative polish proffered by the likes of Candlemass and Count Raven. – Eduardo Rivadavia
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