9th February 2021

Review: “Deathroll” by Gator Pit

Detroit Michigan maybe known as the Motor City due to its ties with the auto industry (the big three of General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler all have their headquarters located there) but it has also been a place from which a fair few Metal bands have surfaced over the years with Negative Approach, Factory 81 and Walls of Jericho all being fine examples. 2019 saw Metalcore quintet Gator Pit make their debut with “Deathroll” and join that list with a certain amount of Southern drawl and having impressed us with their January 2021 single “Don’t Wanna Be Here“, we figured it was time we went back to the start and checked out where it all began.

The title “Deathroll” refers to a maneuver performed by Alligators and Crocodiles as they grip their prey in their jaws, drugs them under water and then rotating rapidly about the longitudinal axis of the body, subduing and dismembering them, something which Gator Pit do with this EP. Opening cut “Bad Candy” blends the Sludge infused Hardcore Punk of bands like Scissorfight with Everytime I Die, taking Mathcore leads and smashing them into nauseatingly oddly time signatured riffs with a raw and chaotic sound quality that makes it sound as if the band are performing live. Schizophrenically unhinged vocals are the the order of the day and they run throughout with “Goldbrick” being arguably the most varied. Ranging from the spoken word to Death Metal gutturals via a cleaner Hardcore Punk barked style, it’s like listening to a young Serji Tankian fronting a Deathcore band who love Amen. Getting underneath the vocal stylings and the frenetic guitar work and the songs are very cleverly constructed. The Jazz fusion Power of “Thinker” complete with its brutal Deathcore vocals and gang chanted moments is chaotically brilliant, while the breakdown friendly “Benefactor” has all those distinctive Southern riff touches that show that intelligence in the creative process off in style. One can only imagine the live show of Gator Pit being a no holds barred sweaty mess of writhing bodies flying in all directions during a show of complete bedlam and it sounds great! [8/10]

Track listing