The Seventh Gate
Self Titled
5.4
Virginia’s The Seventh Gate have a string of full-lengths to their name – None So Bloody As the Kingdom of Christ, Cheap Sex and Painkillers, and Folie A Trois – but The Seventh Gate is evidently just a two-song EP. Not easily classified by any one subgenre tag, TSG are an amalgamation of grind and death, mostly, with a smidge of black and -core thrown in for good measure. While there’s definite potential swirling around on “This” and “A Bitch’s Birthday Means It’s Time to Celebrate the Crippling Devotions of Celibacy,” there’s simply not enough to catapult this release past average territory.
Of the two, “This” is first and it is here that we’re led into abrasive, Watchmaker-like grind that incorporates death metal elements soon afterwards. It’s fairly obvious from the get-go that The Seventh Gate are firm believers in the stop/start technique, which is utilized repeatedly during the course of these songs. From the midway point and on, one encounters a death/grind hybrid, but it’s a sound that doesn’t shy away from focusing on certain -core grooves for a few measures at a time. The second track – c’mon, I ain’t typin’ all that again– is similar, even though it starts more slowly. Again, there’s subgenre-mixing going on, but maybe too much since The Seventh Gate seem too scatterbrained for their own good. Still, a crushing moment of brilliance can be heard at the 3:22 minute mark, however brief, proving they can concentrate if they want to. Perhaps, if the songs weren’t so difficult to get into due to the constant shifting of gears, this effort would be more likeable.
