GATECREEPER
CRESCENT BALLROOM, PHOENIX
After bothering both necks and the mainstream of their native US with their latest surprise-released opus, An Unexpected Reality (which hit No.1 in Billboard’s Top New Artist albums chart), Arizona death metal mob Gatecreeper set their sights on your eyeballs with their debut livestream. Filmed at the Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix, their no-frills, lean and pleasingly mean set showcases a band full of confidence and firing on all cylinders. While it’s been over a year since they last graced a stage, you’d never know it as they’re as solid as a Sasquatch’s sofa. Peppered with some behind-the-scenes footage throughout, the tracks from their current record are the most exhilarating and the likes of Starved and Sick Of Being Sober are an explosive fusion of Scum-era Napalm Death and Entombed’s Left Hand Path. It’s not just the music that entertains during the stream either, as throughout the show there’s a hilarious ‘Ough Counter’, which pops up onscreen every time frontman Chase Mason grunts the word. The groove-laden Flamethrower closes the incendiary 40-minute set in style and helps ensure that we won’t forget Gatecreeper’s first time in a hurry.