Gate 9

Moon Ranger Gone Evil (Underdogma)
by Brian Varney

“Black Sabbath (it is a religion)” reads the liner notes, as if a listen to the disc wouldn’t’ve told you the same thing. Normally, I frown upon using the Black Sabbath comparison for this type of heavy rock (though it’s the stock comparison to make, it’s usually not an accurate one), but this is one of the most blatant slices of Sab worship I’ve heard since that last sHeavy album.

Heavier and slower than said Canadians, Gate 9 waste no time letting the Sabbath influence take over – opener “Dwarves of Might” is the sound of a band who really, really wants to break into “Sweet Leaf.” They manage to fight the urge, but the song shows signs of the struggle. Things proceed as expected from there, with Jan Serensen’s Ozzy/Eric Wagner-influenced vocals nestled atop the band’s Sab-styled lurchings quite nicely.

Though this may not be sludgy enough to satisfy hardcore doomers, I’d say Gate 9 should appeal to fans of bands like Tummler and Men of Porn. If you can’t remember where you put your Man’s Ruin CDs last time you guzzled a couple of bottles of cough syrup and you need new musical accompaniment for your next Robomax adventure, Gate 9 may be the way to go.
(PO Box 5070 Fredericksburg, VA 22403)