Gatecreeper Dark Superstition European Tour 2024 with Support from 200 Stab Wounds & Enforced 09.11.2024 - Essen, Turock Doors: 18:45h Start: 19:15h The new wave of American death metal needs a breakout album, and Dark Superstition is it. Gatecreeper’s third full-length sees the Arizona death metal specialists—vocalist Chase H. Mason, guitarists Eric Wagner and Israel Garza, drummer Metal Matt Arrebollo and bassist Alex Brown—carving out their own path. Formed in 2013, Gatecreeper have spent the last decade steadily climbing the death metal ladder. Their self-titled 2014 EP established instant credibility as purveyors of the old-school form. The band signed with Relapse, releasing their full-length debut Sonoran Depravation in 2016. At once an homage to their desert origins and a statement of death metal intent, the record landed them a 2017 tour with Cannibal Corpse and Power Trip. In 2019, Gatecreeper unveiled Deserted, their ripping foray into self-described “stadium death metal.” Think of Dark Superstition as Gatecreeper’s answer to Entombed’s Wolverine Blues or Dismember’s Massive Killing Capacity, pivotal albums on which the songs got tighter and more rock influenced. Or even Paradise Lost, who went even further in a rock direction with albums like Icon and Draconian Times. “In the mid-90s, all those bands were evolving into doing their own thing,” Mason says. “I feel like we’ve incorporated that timeline into Gatecreeper.” Dismember played a particularly prominent role in Dark Superstition. The band’s drummer and main songwriter Fred Estby flew to Arizona to work with Gatecreeper in pre-production, helping them put the finishing touches on their songs. You can hear that classic Swedish influence on “Masterpiece of Chaos,” which evokes the tried-and-true Gatecreeper of Sonoran Depravation. Mason describes the track as “A nightmarish vision of a broken mirror with an ominous creature that lives within the fragmented web of glass.” Thematically speaking, Dark Superstition deals with the supernatural, divination, fear of the unknown, and trust in magic or chance. “Many of the songs incorporate supernatural ideas with my own experiences,” Mason says. “But the title itself is a reference to the Superstition Mountains in our home state of Arizona. It’s a beautiful mountain range surrounded by tragedy and legends of hidden fortune.”

Viehofer Platz 3, 45127 Essen