Unexpected to say the least, after disbanding in 2013 Indianopolis doom legends The Gates of Slumber have returned! Following the underwhelming Wretch project, Karl Simon reformed his original band for a festival appearance but decided to produce new material. Then of course came the Covidpocalypse and plans had to be placed on ice. Until now; a mere thirty-five minutes of new material making this the shortest Gates of Slumber to date by a considerable margin. And following in the footsteps of Wretch's self-titled album than previous masterpieces? Well, what this self-titled album does is not just remind us of how intense and focused the band's brand of true doom was and is but gets back to the inherent misery and wretchedness of true doom's core.

Rejecting the epic heavy metal sidelines of yore, even, which will annoy some fans of the more grandiose anthems of before. Although opening track and first single Embrace the Lie is supposedly about politics according to Simon, the sheer weight of feeling is equal to the weight of the heavy riffs as he sings about accepting the inevitable in a spiritually 70s and physically and distinctly Sabbathian dirge of melancholy. Those fellow doombahs who love the genre for its crushing despair as much as crushing guitars will be in rapture, of course, and it's quite the opening statement even from a band as wholeheartedly dedicated to the truest of doom as The Gates of Slumber were once known for being.

There is plenty of excellent riffage to keep us all well-fed, thankfully, and the band sound fantastic thanks to a production that even allows the slablike bass clunks to reverberate. Being true doesn't mean not being catchy as both the opener and We Are Perdition quickly show, with memorable hook-strewn writing that helps memorability. And there's a shift in songwriting with the even slower The Fog, hearkening back to Reverend Bizarre and even early Cathedral territory with a longer running time of seven minutes really allowing the misery to sink in. Album finale The Plague follows suit, albeit building and exploding into a more galloping and heavy metal-fied stomper, an album highlight to be sure. Even the strange choking noises on Full Moon Fever can't spoil the solid ringing doom riffing or drag things down. Much like the cover art, this is no frills, no extras - just The Gates of Slumber providing a solid dose of doom.