Wednesday, August 10, 2011

THE GATES OF SLUMBER "villain, villain"

Seems like a new era is starting : the sun is shining this morning :), suggesting, finally, a nice summer day... but one thing remains certainty from day to day, rainy or sunny the weather could be, "the wretch" from THE GATES OF SLUMBER is still my favourite album of the year !!! That's also why I feel the need to write about a (double) compilation CD from these doom lords that I recently bought : "villain, villain" released in 2009 by Metal Supremacy rds from Germany.
If you've listened to the last album "the wretch", you've quickly noticed that TGOS came back to a more direct style very closed to their two first albums, some top notch traditional doom with lots of deligthful gloominess and extreme heaviness.  Songs  that can make feel inside you a pronounced sensitivity, this is something that Karl Simon's always been particularly good at...
What is particularly interesting is the nice way songs have been placed : it shows the band's progress in times, the affirmation of an identity, maybe there could be something similar released in the future to cover the "conqueror" + "hymns of..." period, cause this compil really presents the interest to be the perfect testament of the band's first period (from 2000 to 2006) and it's something incredibly cool to have on a same release ,old songs from the "cloaked figure" demo, the "like a plague upon the land" ep, ""the awekening" and "suffer no guilt" albums... But this isn't all, like Karl said in his interview with me a few months ago, the band always had pleasure to play covers live in the early years, this comp is a good way to point that. Sometimes ,live cover songs are just here to fill as bonus tracks, nothing essential at all, this is absolutely not the case here, the pleasure is shared and you really enjoy nice covers of Samhain, Manilla Road and -the band's most influential source- Saint Vitus (3 songs !!!). 
I guess you understood my purpose, this "villain, villain" is definitely a piece to own, so start the hunt... (not too difficult, starting from All That is Heavy with currently -25% off on this little jewel !).

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