Gatecreeper Sign to Nuclear Blast

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Over the past couple of years, Arizona death metal crew Gatecreeper have gone from underground darlings to new kings of brutality. Both of their full length albums, 2016’s Sonoran Depravation and 2019’s Deserted,  became fixtures within the scene upon first being released. Now, the band have another milestone under their belt: Gatecreeper have just announced that they’ve signed a deal with massive metal label Nuclear Blast.

Take a moment to consider this: Gatecreeper are now labelmates with Rob Zombie, Sabaton, Hatebreed and Nightwish.

The band announced the news yesterday via social media, writing, “We are proud to announce that we have signed to @nuclearblastrecords.”

 

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This comes hot on the heels of An Unexpected Reality, the band’s surprise-released new EP which shows them trying out fresh tempos. The record features one side that’s all blazingly fast music, while the other is a single, sprawling death-doom track.

“This record was an idea I’ve had for a while,” frontman Chase Mason told The Pit. “I didn’t think we would actually be able to do it, with last year being a year we were going to tour more than any year before — Deserted had just come out. I had this idea in my back pocket, so when everything got canceled and we were able to tour, I just figured, Well, now’s the time.  I didn’t want to put it out into the world with some huge roll-out, as the new Gatecreeper full-length.

“I would say it’s an EP, because even though it’s eight songs, it’s under twenty minutes. Depends on how you classify it — some bands have full albums under 20 minutes. It’s not our next full-length, and why I say that is because we’re experimenting a little bit, and I don’t want it to be like, This is what Gatecreeper sound like nowThey’re changing their sound. It’s more of an exploration, and maybe a little bit of a detour, with us trying out this new format.”

Congrats to these guys on their new home — we’re so excited to see what they do there!

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Words by Chris Krovatin