Review: “Gateway” by Phobocosm

“Gateway stands as an unrelenting and eldritch death metal opus that seals one chapter while unveiling the next. The album includes material from every songwriting period of the band, some of it dating back to the Deprived and Bringer of Drought eras, as well as Foreordained, of course. We view it as the closing of a chapter for the band. Not that our future material will be completely different fr­om our existing material, far from it, but we have decided to do things a little differently next time around by adding new elements that haven’t appeared in our music before, exploring different dynamics and experimenting with a new tuning. The song ‘Revival’ from “Foreordained” inspired the album’s theme, which is the fact that humans have been trying to live forever – or to unnaturally prolong life – since the dawn of time, often for reasons even more absurd than the pursuit of eternal life itself. We used this as the main theme and pushed the concept further, exploring the most repulsive forms of cruelty humans are capable of — even when using science as a means to prolong barbarity against their enemies” ~ Samuel Dufour, guitars

Continuing their collaborations with artist Lauri Laaksonen (Desolate Shrine, Convocation, Pestilent Hex) and producer Xavier Berthiaume (Gevurah, Sanctvs) who recorded, mixed and mastered, “Gateway” is the first album to emerge from Montréal Death Metal force Phobocosm after they completed a trilogy of records with 2023’s “Foreordained”. That doesn’t however mean that the quartet stray from the left hand path however with concepts and ideas left from that trilogy being put to good use and their last album inspiring this one.

Something wicked this way comes as the ominous introduction to “Deathless” gives the subliminal suggestion of a beast rising from the black depths to tread where Gods fear to. The tension builds in sinister and menacing fashion before the blood curdling vocals come in a third of the way through, bassist and vocalist Etienne Bayard growling his way through the lyrical narrative with is voice the single heaviest element. The riffs are seductively dark, the storytelling spellbinding and the percussion thunderous making the opening track an absolute monster painted in Progressive Death Metal. “Unbound” continues the narrative in sublime, skull crushing style, the band conjuring sonic abrasions that flow like lava to obsidian, drummer Jean-Sébastien Gagnon getting creative with his fills between blast beats and jack hammer footwork to drive the malevolent tale home like a nine inch nail. Phobocosm have long specialized in dark and foreboding atmospheres and this is no different, each song churning and burning in the black depths of the poison well. Flavours of Imperial Triumphant or Rivers of Nihil creep into instrumental “Corridor I – The Affliction“, its off kilter melody offering something tastefully unhinged as the four piece push their boundaries as well as those of the discerning listener.

That makes way for “Sempiternal Penance“, a track that has that same unhinged melody ingrained within it while blending elements of the first two cuts. Bayard’s vocals become fearsomely demonic at points as hitherto unheard levels of depravity are reached while sonically the band never flinch in the face of evil with their brutality. A mid tempo cut with the power to cause skulls to cave in at thirty paces, this one isn’t for the faint of heart or weak of mind, Phobocosm creating a wall of Death Metal for the listener to climb in abject horror. The second instrumental “Corridor II – The Descent” takes a different approach to the first, building tension in eerie fashion with fleeting leads and huge percussive sounds that will have you swaying like a marionette, hypnotized as if by a snake charmer. Bludgeoning the discerning listener into submission or death “Beyond the Threshold of Flesh” turns the raging fire into a towering inferno by increasing the intensity. Its like the band are a Boa Constrictor, choking off the air supply of their victim with this powerful display of apocalyptic Death Metal and then the blasting begins. Rob Milley and Samuel Dufour are masters of this game, their guitar work deserving of a grand auditorium in which to perform to match the sheer statue of this ominous affair. Its eight and a half minutes that will have you gripping the pillow tight being both captivated and intoxicated by the onslaught. Slow and crushing “Corridor III – The Void” stirs the senses with churning guitars that circle the drain of being cinematic in scale and the leads are majestic. A beast of a record “Gateway” is very much the doorway to a hellish realm of existence… [7.5/10]

Track Listing

1. Deathless
2. Unbound
3. Corridor I – The Affliction
4. Sempiternal Penance
5. Corridor II – The Descent
6. Beyond the Threshold of Flesh
7. Corridor III – The Void

“Gateway” by Phobocosm is out 28th November via Dark Descent Records and is available over at bandcamp