Rating: 6.0

Country: Canada

Release Date: 2007

Record Label: Total Holocaust

Track list:
1. The Kingdom of Flesh and Decay   
2. Above as it is Below   
3. Gloria Diaboli   
4. Gate To Sheol
5. Libation Unto He Who Dwelleth in the Depths
6. Omega Throne  
7. Oh, Great Deceiver

Total playing time   31:04

Band Website: Gloria Diaboli

Gloria Diaboli - Gate to Sheol

Malevolus - lead / rhythm guitars, bass, additional vocals
Haasiophis - vocals
Profanis - drums
Hellthorn - lead / rhythm guitars

No, not Glorior Belli, but close. These Canadians do happen to traffic in the same sort of grey, angular religious black metal that's been so trendy among zealots in Sweden and France these days. In a nutshell, think Funeral Mist if they shedded the profound atmosphere, took death metal steroids, and started churning out imperial chugging rife with melodic minor flairs -- the kind to which Marduk have relegated their entire compositional catalogue for the past decade or so.

Gloria Diaboli manifest their hatred for order, peace, and other things that are generally considered "nice" into a musical context by writing songs of raging atonality covered in spiny structural ornamentation wherein any traces of melody, at least in the traditional metal sense of the word, are relegated to compositional subtext. At first I wasn't surprised a bit when I learned this band contains an old Blasphemy member, but shit, even Blasphemy had their share of crusty, head-nodding grooves; this just violently blurs over my head much of the time. Sure, Gate to Sheol has a bit of ornamental leadwork, groovy mid-paced bits and conventionally melodic tremolo riffs winding about here and there, I'll give it that, but such instances simply won't move you as much as the borderline totalitarian anger the band exhibits at their most acidic. Nothing (save for the drummer's complex performance -- the guy tears shit up) is bafflingly obtuse like recent Deathspell Omega or Katharsis; these gnarled songs are simply constructed in an extremely abrasive manner that perpetually understates harmony.

For an orthodox black metal band, Gloria Diaboli's mythology is relatively uninteresting, or at least they don't portray it in a particularly intriguing light. What's that about gaping wounds and ancient serpents? Fascinating, tell me more. Not that it matters; it's all delivered by the vocalist in the kind of venomous spew that could make lyrics about baby ducks falling asleep seem vaguely threatening.

Gate To Sheol is an archetypical case of proper form not always sufficing. Everything about it should prove aesthetically pleasing to everyone from kvlt kiddies to casual metalheads, especially the incredible skinpounding, but at its nadir it's a shell of meaningful orthodox black metal; Deathspell without the Omega, if you will. It's delightfully furious and impenetrable, but it often seems to lack purpose beyond those virtues. You do get a lot of material for your dead presidents, though, as Gloria Diaboli's self-titled EP is mercifully included, so it wouldn't hurt to give it a look if you're into this sort of fanaticism.

July 20th, 2008