THE GATES OF SLUMBER Recording New Album + Tour Dates

Celebrated “True Heavy Metal band” THE GATES OF SLUMBER will enter England’s Orgone Studios with producer Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Angel Witch) later this month to lay down tracks for its forthcoming new album. The follow up to the Indianapolis trio’s critically acclaimed LP Hymns of Blood and Thunder will see a spring, 2011 release via Rise Above Records.

THE GATES OF SLUMBER recently announced the addition of new drummer, “Cool Clyde” Paradis into its ranks. A New Orleans native and Hurricane Katrina survivor, Paradis joins THE GATES OF SLUMBER hot off stints in Sourvein, Substance Abuse and the New Orleans blues act T-bone and The Rhythm Makers.

"The new music is taking on a more troglodyte doom metal feel," exclaimed THE GATES OF SLUMBER front man / guitarist Karl Simon. "With Clyde now in the band, the feel of things was bound to change; he's not only a different drummer, but from a totally different school of thought with regards to the drums. It's no secret that Saint Vitus' shuddering doom crawl was the root that inspired this band and we'd both felt that over three albums we'd taken the raw epic feel as far as we could. Now, it’s time to get back to basics, shed some of the bulk and get ugly again. No warriors this time, no acoustic guitars, no keyboards, no lofty Nietzschean ideals. Just black bile and a bit of the old “white magic; black magic."

THE GATES OF SLUMBER is currently in the midst of a European tour as hand-picked support for legendary doom rock band Cathedral. The trek will run through November 20 in Paris, France. Additionally, THE GATES OF SLUMBER has been confirmed as one of the featured acts for the 2011 Roadburn Festival, set to take place April 14-16 in Tilburg, Holland.

Weaned on Black Sabbath, St. Vitus, the melodic might of Iron Maiden and a host of classic bands from Thin Lizzy to Rainbow to Mercyful Fate, THE GATES OF SLUMBER draws deep from heavy metal's most powerful blood and delivers doom metal in its purest form. The band has been called “a breath of fresh air within the doom / true metal underground.” The trio’s powerful songwriting and instrumental skull-crushing is heavy and chillingly bleak in an almost unrelenting way that hasn't been heard since Judas Priest's heyday (Sad Wings of Destiny, Sin After Sin, etc.). Displaying a powerful focus and direction, THE GATES OF SLUMBER is at once powerfully compelling, tight in its grooves and unrivaled in its sheer power.

In addition to Simon and Paradis, THE GATES OF SLUMBER features bassist Jason McCash.

THE GATES OF SLUMBER tour dates:
 November 11 Pratteln, Switzerland Z7
November 12 München, Germany Backstage
November 13 Pinarella di Cervia, Italy Rock Planet
November 14 Rome, Italy Init Club
November 17 Madrid, Spain Heinekin
November 18 Barcelona, Spain Razzmatazz 2
November 19 Belfort, France La Pouderie
November 20 Paris, France La Nouveau Casino

Did Paul Speckman join The Gates of Slumber?