Spiter – Enter the Gates of Fucking Hell
May 24th, 2024
Blackened Speed Metal / Metalpunk
Hells Headbangers Records
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Anyone who’s been reading this blog for a while will know that I’m a huge fan of the particular breed of metalpunk that has been emerging from Philadelphia over the past several years. Whether it’s Devil Master or Zorn or Atomic Cretins, something about that city just oozes filth in such a way that this is the kind of disgusting music that churns forth from its blighted sewers. I was a massive proponent of the first Spiter record, Bathe the Babe in Bats’ Blood, and even wound up opening for them with my own band here in Montreal a scant few months back. It was in May that the group released the followup to that record, Enter the Gates of Fucking Hell, and enter those gates I did.
The first thing that struck me about this EP, after the haunting, vampyric organ intro that features frontman Richard Spider delivering the EP’s title in characteristic, Nosferatunian affectation, was just how damn brutal that first track is. “Enter the Gates of Fucking Hell”, the song, is a no holds barred, blackened thrash assault featuring some of the fastest and most aggressive riffing that I’ve heard emerge from the Spiter’s web thus far. The guitars and drums do not relent for even a moment until the infectious chorus punches you in the face and compels you to scream along “Enter the gates! Enter the gates! Enter the gates of fucking Hell!”
From there the EP continues its blackened thrash assault on “Drowning in Darkness”, though notably there is less thrash and more focus on the black metal elements as well as the punk elements that start to creep in and are more present for the rest of the duration of this thing. The cool thing about Spiter is how they manage to sound so sadistically evil one moment and then deliver a song that makes you want to shake your hips on the dance floor the next. The fact that the title track and the post punk banger “Tears of Blood” can be on the same record is a testament not only to Spiter’s songwriting quality but their consistency in spite of variety. This EP never feels tired because, well, for one, it’s rather short, and for another, each of these songs stands on their own.
Spiter have knocked it out of the park on this one yet again. This is easily a worthy followup to Bathe the Babe in Bats’ Blood, and in many ways actually surpasses it in terms of brutality, evil, and extremity. The catchy songwriting is still there, as are the infectious vocal hooks, the punk sensibilities, and the desire to suck every living thing within a 100 square kilometer radius dry of every last drop of blood. Absolutely worth your time. Check this fucker out.
Final Verdict: 5/5
Flawless
Favourite Tracks:
“Enter the Gates of Fucking Hell”
“Drowning in Darkness”
“Tears of Blood”
“The Creeping Serpent Psychosis”
“666 on the Crucifix”
“Reflection of the Vampire”
~ Akhenaten
Where Strides The Behemoth? 