gatekeeper – Page 3 – Cruz Del Sur Music

The anticipation for GATEKEEPER’s first full-length album “East Of Sun” grows by the day, with pre-orders going fast and some limited edition vinyl prints already sold-out. Such a response leads perfectly into the band’s planned live show activities in support of the album, which started earlier this year and will run through the summer, including what should be a triumphant debut at Germany’s Keep It True Festival on April 27, which also is the same day in which “East Of Sun” will be released via Cruz Del Sur Music.

The anticipation for GATEKEEPER’s first full-length album “East Of Sun” grows by the day, with pre-orders going fast and some limited edition vinyl prints already sold-out. Such a response leads perfectly into the band’s planned live show activities in support of the album, which started earlier this year and will run through the summer, including what should be a triumphant debut at Germany’s Keep It True Festival on April 27, which also is the same day in which “East Of Sun” will be released via Cruz Del Sur Music.

Comments guitarist/founding member Geoff Blackwell: “Two of our members have played Keep It True in the past, but for me, this will be new territory and I’m extremely excited, needless to say. The Keep It True crowd is legendary in our niche so it’s hard not to have big expectations for the weekend. We want to get people moving, get them talking and we want to meet as many cool people as possible and make a bunch of new friends and fond memories. It’s gonna be great!

“We are going to bring our A-game to that stage, just like we do every night,” he continues. “GATEKEEPER puts on a high-energy performance and the past two years of regular gigging have turned the band into a tightly wound, well-oiled heavy metal machine.”

GATEKEEPER should be heading into Keep It True and additional live shows with plenty of momentum based on the early response to “East Of Sun”. The album, adorned with artwork from renowned British artist Duncan Storr (DARK FOREST, SKYCLAD), is being recognized as the veritable epic metal statement that it is, made all the more special considering GATEKEEPER was started as nothing more than a simple home studio project by Blackwell.

“It’s been a pleasant surprise to have this much early buzz and positive support,” he says. “The first day of pre-orders left us completely stunned and I’m very happy with the response to our music video for ‘Blade Of Cimmeria’. I can’t wait to reveal the other cool things we’ve got in store for everyone. We still have a few weeks before the album is out and we are almost completely sold out of pre-order LPs, so I’d suggest folks snap those up really quick!”

GATEKEEPER upcoming live shows:

April 20 – Char’s Landing – Port Alberni, British Columbia

April 21 – Logan’s Pub – Victoria, British Columbia

April 27 – Keep It True Festival – Germany

May 12 – Pat’s Pub – Vancouver, British Columbia

June 9 – Decimate Metalfest – Calgary, Alberta

June 10 – The Wolf – Maple Ridge, British Columbia

June 30 – Munnin’s Post – Kelowna, British Columbia

July 14 – Armstrong Metal Fest – Armstrong, British Columbia

August 04 – Shred The Loops Festival – Kamloops, British Columbia

Soon, the metal world will get to absorb the sounds of GATEKEEPER’s first full-length album, “East Of Sun”, an epic metal tour-de-force that will see the light of day this April via Cruz Del Sur Music.

Soon, the metal world will get to absorb the sounds of GATEKEEPER’s first full-length album, “East Of Sun”, an epic metal tour-de-force that will see the light of day this April via Cruz Del Sur Music.

Rewind back to the early months of 2017, though, and it was legendary British artist Duncan Storr (DARK FOREST, EDGE OF SANITY, RAGE, SKYCLAD) who became one of the first people to hear the demos that would ultimately become “East Of Sun”. Well before they were signed to Cruz Del Sur, GATEKEEPER leader Geoff Blackwell mustered up the courage to email Storr a demo to see if he’d be willing to work on the project. Luckily for Blackwell and co., Storr took an immediate liking to GATEKEEPER and got down to business.

“I liked the demo and asked to hear a few more songs if they had more,” says Storr. “Geoff sent me over another two demos to listen to so I could get a good feel for their sound. The titles of the tracks ‘Warrior Without Fear’, ‘Oncoming Ice’, and ‘East Of Sun West of Moon’, sparked something and I got a few ideas from listening to the tracks.”

Storr proceed to reach into his vault and selected an unfinished piece he thought would be suit GATEKEEPER. “I sent Geoff a few of these images and relayed how I would like to incorporate some of the song ideas and embellish the atmosphere in the painting,” he says. “He got back to me after showing the rest of the band. The band have been great to work with and have kept me informed and added more demos for me to work with as I paint. I find this always helps.”

“We had a short list of people that we wanted to work with on this album and Duncan Storr was on it,” adds Blackwell. “He is a real gentleman and a master behind the paintbrush. The piece he showed us instantly clicked with our vision for the record and in a way, it drove us to work even harder on the music in order to match the quality of his art. GATEKEEPER would like to thank Duncan for his hard work, dedication to his craft and for being a loyal fan of rock and roll.”