2011 was a very good year for The Gates of Slumber, we had come off a run of great shows with Cathedral and the amazing experience of recording The Wretch in London with Jaime Gomez in December of 2010, and we were fresh off touring with Place of Skulls and our headliner set at Roadburn when we got the call that Orange Goblin was wanting us to support them as they tried to get a full US tour in 13 days… 13 grizzly days where we had no air conditioning in the van as we trekked across the deep south… the realities of touring in the US vs Europe were laid bare on this one, there was the infamous decided lack of everything that we were dealing with as we confronted blown out tires, a lack of sleep, a lack of food and mostly a lack of time.
By the time we had reached The Clubhouse in Tempe we were beyond exhausted and yet somehow we had one of the best sets of this era of the band. Maybe it was the cheap speed…. The world may never know.
Arizona had always been strangely good to us, maybe being baked by the sun like that has had an effect on the locals as to make them prone to picking up what we were putting down. Maybe it’s the fact that drinks needed to be kept back by the bar, I don’t know. But I do know that the sound man had the common decency to not try and fix the sound by adding high end to the guitar in the mix. All too often they try to do that and it ruins it. It’s supposed to sound like that, no it’s not broken. Set it, and go get a drink…. Which is what the dear man did. He missed The Scovrge ov Drvnkeness in fact and barely hit record in time for Bastards Born. The rest is what you hear, warts and all….
In the years since I’ve often looked back on this tour and time (with literal tears in my eyes… Ough) It was a great time with good friends, who I miss very much. I hope you enjoy.
Count Raven, what more can be said than doom heads you need this. Count Raven has always put out jaw dropping traditional doom and still does, this album is also destined to be considered a stone cold classic, what more can be said than buy Doom Heads!!!!!!!!! SIR LIEBLING CHIHUAHUA SNEEN
My favorite material from Solstice! Despite their amazing discography that lay before this that completely set the foundation, this in my opinion is where it all comes to a mighty peak. What an amazing emotional and powerful picture painted in such a short amount of time. Talon Sullivan
The metal’s band revelatory new record crosses genres and styles, effortlessly combining seemingly incompatible subgenres. Bandcamp Album of the Day Apr 26, 2024
So I can't leave a long enough review to say everything I want. But I will say this, I love this EP. It's a great little follow up to times, and has just enough of a dynamic shift in sound to prove that Smoulder isn't a one trick pony with their first album's formula. This one really plays up the 70s prog aspects (DUST and Manilla Road influences definitely shine through even harder here). It's still Smoulder, don't get me wrong. Just a different side in some ways, all of which are good. playfulpooka