Review Summary: ENTER THE GATE ONLY TO FIND YOURSELF TRAPPED IN THE OUT!!!
Cemetery is a death metal band from Germany. They met an unfortunate fate and didn't receive the opportunity to amaze ears back in the 90's due to their label collapsing before their album had a chance to hit any shelves. Had this not happening I really feel like their name would come up in conversations about the top tier classic death metal bands. Sadly regardless of the quality of the music here with the album being shelved they were destined to fade into obscurity. Those willing to dig deep and step through the gate will quickly see the gem that awaits them beyond that barrier!
Each track on Enter the Gate takes the listener on a journey. The opening track "The Different" sets the bar very high. Cemetery comes straight out of the gate with fast riffing and break off into some very warped sounding leads and seal the deal with some absolutely killer solos. The fretwork here is genuinely otherworldly at times. The riffing is extremely infectious and make the long runtimes of the tracks fly by with no issue.
The soloing here is easily some of my favorite in the history of the genre and there is loads of it here to be soaked in. The pulsating vibe given off by "Wings of Hate" is so satisfying. The way the bass pokes through the whirlwind of riffing is nothing short of perfect. Masterful songwriting throughout this project makes the lengthy runtime soar by with ease. Even after pushing past the hour mark I'm left craving more.
Overall Enter the Gate is a stellar death metal odyssey. While the death metal scenes of Sweden and Finland are the ones most commonly brought up outside of the US Cemetery prove to be a shining example of one of the many great bands that Germany had to offer back in the 90's. The lengthy songs feel nothing like their runtime with songwriting chalk full of nice twists and turns that make every single note during the duration fresh. I've jammed a ton of death metal albums in my years of being a fan and this album easily has a solidified spot in the best releases the genre has to offer. I'd also be hard pressed to find another record that has a vibe quite like this one. It's a damn shame that this album got shelved for as long as it did. Amazing stuff. Jam it!
