Phobocosm – Gateway Review

[Cover art by Lauri Laaksonen]

Phobocosm’s fourth album, Gateway, is very much an album that sounds like its cover. It is a bleak, colorless, and intimidating swath of rocks with some room to breathe that somehow still feels claustrophobic. The Canadian quartet’s brand of death metal is one of a trudging crush; the soundtrack to your exhausted efforts to clamber back out of this chasm after slipping and falling to its base with nothing but flights of fancy as to whether or not there actually is anything worth seeing should you get to the beam of light up top. This is music that would surely leave the lands beyond its cover desolate and abandoned should these tunes be echoing out from the cavern’s maw on repeat.

The opening one-two punch of “Deathless” and “Unbound” is a perfect introduction to Phobocosm. The former fades in with a slow tremolo build, begetting a cavernous cascade of slow-falling heaviness. “Deathless” is a track that’s relentlessly slow, intent on squishing you by the inch. The latter, however, spices in a steadier bit of blast beats that play a vital role in adding a sense of urgency to the tank tread assault; its driver finally realizing there is another gear. Similarly, some more biting tremolo riffs cut in like our intrepid hero at the bottom of the cave has been given a fear boost, leading to a feeble attempt at parkouring out of there.

Those opening punches also happen to be a bit of a feint. They each surpass six minutes, but the remaining tracks are a three-part instrumental interlude alternating with two more big boys coming to muscle you out of the club. Inserting the three “Corridor” songs is an interesting idea that doesn’t entirely stick the landing. Each feels like an interlude rather than a connected triple-threat, and as such seems more fitting if they were a section of another song. The climbing notes of “Corridor 1 – The Affliction” bring a light to the proceedings that are a perfect counterpoint to the blast-happy “Sempiternal Penance” that follows it. Could it maybe have just been tacked onto the start of the song? “Corridor III – The Void” is meant to serve as an outro. Since it takes a similar songwriting approach to the previous two parts, however, and follows the longest song on the album, it doesn’t function as a satisfying closer. Instead, it feels like another interlude that should have something follow it. Worth noting that the pummeling rolls and kicks of Jean-Sébastien Gagnon’s drums on “Corridor II – The Descent” do make a nice impact on the track.

As a centerpiece to the album, the aforementioned “Sempiternal Penance” is the shortest main song and a tight ball of rage. Despite its increased speed and reliance on blast beats, it still manages to carry a sense of that trudging crush. Phobocosm’s ability to play with that formula makes for a more engaging listen. There are also some killer moments where the space opens up and Gagnon’s hi-hat work will have you expecting a fist to connect with the back of your head from the pit at any moment. The big eight-plus-minute bruiser that is “Beyond the Threshold of Flesh” is the more appropriate finisher for this album. It’s the track that collapses the walls of the mountain on you just as you’re getting to the opening and snuffs out any last hope you had. The opening stretch has these excellent alternating passages where it drops extra slow and then briefly bursts forward at full speed like a drunk college student at 2:00 am stumbling and chasing after a $10 bill on the sidewalk on their way to Taco Bell (yes, it has to be a $10 bill because otherwise you can’t afford Taco Bell anymore. Goddamn you, America!)

All in, Gateway isn’t breaking new ground but its 35 minutes are still heavy enough to leave a few cracks in the earth.