THE GATES OF SLUMBER
s/t LP BLACK

Svart Records, black vinyl, insert

“I never intended to pick up with The Gates of Slumber ever again in 2014. While I did start the band and wrote most of the first album it was never intended to be a one man show.” -Karl Simon, 2024
Indiana’s True Doom Metal legends The Gates of Slumber return with their sixth album out in November via Svart Records. The self-titled album is the band’s first full length offering since The Wretch from 2011.
The Gates of Slumber was formed by Karl Simon in 1998. Various people were in and out of the group between 1998 and 2001, when the Blood Encrusted Deth Axe demo was recorded with Jamie Walters aka Dr. Phibes/Athenar (Boulder, Midnight) on drums and bass. In 2003 Jason McCash took over the bass duties and was a long-time member of the band until his untimely demise in 2014, after which Simon decided it was time to call it quits. That was until 2019 when the renowned metal festival Hell Over Hammaburg wanted to bring the band back on stage to perform at the festival’s 2020 edition. Simon reformed the band with its original member Chuck Brown on drums and Steve Janiak on bass and got back to work. “We’d been asked several times to play Hell Over Hammaburg. But there was no “we” to play. The germ of the idea started. We started re-learning songs from the first LP. It wasn’t too long into the rehearsals that we started coming up with new songs.”, states Simon.
After a reunion tour was finished, Covid kicked in to slow down the process. Half of the album was already written but the remaining half took its time, and the songs were left to stew in their juices. With bastard heavy songs honoring the Doom Metal greats Saint Vitus and Penance, straight forward bangers, lyrics inspired by the Black Death and John Carpenter’s The Fog, The Gates of Slumber is a truly crushing album and a must listen to any Doom Metal fanatic.
Having toured with Pentagram, Reverend Bizarre, Cathedral, Slough Feg, Earthride, and Weedeater in addition to getting a praise from Decibel Magazine such as “The Gates of Slumber have quietly gone about the business of becoming one of the best heavy metal bands in the world.”, it’s safe to say The Gates of Slumber play some of the heaviest metal on this planet.