Track by Track is a recurring article series where artists guide readers through each song from their latest release. Here, singer Chase H. Mason explains Gatecreeper's new LP, Dark superstition.
Modern American death metal purveyors Gatecreeper are back with their third album, dark superstitionand first for his new label Nuclear Blast.
Regarding the LP, singer Chase H. Mason states: “Many of the songs incorporate supernatural ideas with my own experiences. But the title itself is a reference to the Superstition Mountains in our home state of Arizona. “It is a beautiful mountain range surrounded by tragedies and legends of hidden fortunes.”
dark superstition was recorded at God City Studios in Salem, Massachusetts, with acclaimed producer and Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou, who also mixed the album.
Gatecreeper, comprised of Mason, guitarists Eric Wagner and Israel “Izzy” Garza, Metal drummer Matt Arrebollo and bassist Alex Brownare, are currently supporting Swedish metal veterans In Flames on a US tour that runs through May 26 in Dallas. From there, they'll embark on a North American headlining run with support from Undeath, Jarhead Fertilizer and Final Gasp starting May 28 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and performing at a record release show in his hometown at The Nile Theater in Mesa, Arizona. Collect tickets here.
In conjunction with the album's release today (May 17), Chase H. Mason has offered a track-by-track breakdown of dark superstition exclusively for Consequence below. Listen to the album via the Apple Music player and see Mason's description of each track below.
“Dead Star”:
We wanted to start the record strong and put something melodic and huge right at the beginning. While we've been using guitar melodies from the beginning, we really took them to the next level in this song. There are several different leads that come and go, as well as a great solo from Izzy. There's a certain bounce or rhythm to the verse riff that feels very natural to me, so I was able to really flow vocally over it. Big on fire – clay man influence on it. Lyrically this is a love song about a shooting star.
“Forgot”:
After giving people something a little different with “Dead Star”, we wanted to follow up with an energetic and more “classic” song in the Gatecreeper style. I feel like this is an even tighter style of Death Metal than what we've done in the past. We used Kurt's famous Candy Corn HM-2 pedal on the additional guitar layers of this song to really lean on it. There is also a huge punk influence in this song. The lyrics are more personal and talk about the effects or consequences of a traumatic event.
“The Black Curtain”:
This is one of the rockiest songs on the album. It's definitely a new sound or style of ours, but I think we incorporated a couple of new influences while keeping the overall Gatecreeper sound. We used a chorus pedal on many of the guitars to accentuate the gothic rock type leads. I would cite Paradise Lost or even HIM as an influence or inspiration. Lyrically, this song is about Divination. The lyrics are through the eyes of someone trapped in purgatory, between life and death, begging to be brought back to life by some kind of supernatural force.
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