Bloodgate – Solace of Mourning

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BLOODGATE’s new album “Solace in Mourning” is an interesting mix of various elements of Thrash, Black, and Death Metal. This is a very loud and furious kind of music that will delight any fan of sky-splitting screams, ringing drums, and VERY fast guitar riffs. The chances are good that you will find this record interesting even if you do not particularly enjoy some Death, Thrash, or Black, because “Solace in Mourning” contains the right amount of unpredictability that makes this record so fun to listen to.

Before moving on to discussing the music, let's dot all the i's right away: BLOODGATE has a badass logo! It looks like some classic Death Metal font fused with an almost TRIUMVIR FOUL kind of mass. Looks very memorable and instantly recognizable! I'm a little less excited about the album cover. Maybe I'm being prejudiced here because I'm fed up with endless forest photo shoots. All in all, the cover does not cause any sort of disgust, and a gentle purple filter to some extent even gives it some classic MAYHEM-like or EMPEROR-like vibe.

The music on “Solace in Mourning” is akin to life itself: angry, fast, and short. The average song duration does not exceed two and a half minutes, which additionally grants BLOODGATE's sound a more grind-like feel. Another thing to contribute to that feel would be the sonorous snare sound, which constantly reminds you of its presence through various fills and rolls. I would venture to say that the sound solutions on this album as a whole leave a pleasant impression. Instruments are well audible, vocals sound good, regardless of the technique used by the singer, and various stylistic implementations sound organic and do not create a feeling of chunkiness.

What makes “Solace in Mourning” a good metal record, in my opinion, is its ability to surprise. There are many little highlights hidden in this record. My personal favorite was the song called “Tombs of Mortal Decay” with its weird almost progressive Black-like homages and quite unexpected time signature alterations. Other highlights were “Withering”, “Search and Destroy”, and “Curse of the Wizard Staff”. All three of those are quite different in style, yet there's a strong sense of commonality present. You may call that a band's identity and it is great
for a band to have one.

BLOODGATE released 25 minutes of great Metal, period. A small amount in this case is compensated by excellent quality. Perhaps some genre "purists" will have a problem with “Solace in Mourning” as a whole because it never fully focuses on one thing. However, even the very same purists will surely be able to find at least 2-3 tracks on this album that will go to their playlist. I enjoyed listening to “Solace in Mourning” (aesthetically, too! Just look at their logo one more time!) and am looking forward to more.

Songwriting: 8
Musicianship: 8
Memorability: 8
Production: 7