The Gateway Release of the Year Contenders thread

Hi everyone.

With only one month to go until we announce our release of 2021 for each clan (which will once again be based on our site ratings), Ben & I thought it'd be worth highlighting five key releases contending for each title in order to give everyone the chance to investigate some (or all) of them this month if you wish to. These were some of the more highly regarded releases in the alternative metal space last year:

Poppy - "Eat (NXT Soundtrack)" E.P. {US alternative metalcore}

Turnstile - "Turnstile Love Connection" E.P.  {US post-hardcore/alternative metal}

Chevelle - "Niratias"  {US alternative metal}

Whitechapel - "Kin"  {US progressive alternative metal}

Spiritbox - "Eternal Blue"  {Canadian alternative metal}

I was going through these today and I'd like to note that Turnstile's Glow On would be a better nominee instead of the E.P., as all of the songs from the E.P. show up on that album. If Turnstile Love Connection is considered Alternative Metal enough to make it into The Gateway, then Glow On should be in there as well. I had listened to Glow On earlier in the year, which makes sense as to why I swore I heard all these songs before. 

Chevelle is my easy choice from this list, Niratias is a huge step up for them in terms of their general sound and album progression. The whole thing flows so well. 

I feel like I'm completely out of touch with the infatuation with Poppy, it feels like the same situation as Babymetal to me. Tons of people seem to love it, but I get absolutely nothing from it.  

Glow On is the full length album of Turnstile's in which all of the tracks on Turnstile Love Connection can be found. I also agree with Xephyr that the full album should be here if the EP is. If we are making our choices based on these choices, Turnstile wins in spades, even though I would call it hardcore punk over metal.

As for the Poppy discussion, I actually enjoy the records like Poppy Computer when she was in her full electropop phase and lost favour with her as heavy metal elements were added on subsequent albums in 2018 and 2020. This year's Flux was significantly more developed and unique than the NXT soundtrack...and that record was more rock than metal. I suggest that you take the new Poppy records and treat them as rock albums instead of metal albums Xephyr. I reckon you might find something different. Then again, Poppy could divert your expectations and make a full blown country album next, so what do I know?

For the sake of clarity, the releases I listed are not the only releases that will be considered for the ultimate award. I was just trying to highlight records that have been significant this year to try to promote some fresh listens & get some healthy discussion going. Feel free to add any that you feel should be here.

Chevelle - "Niratias"

Despite having been going for over twenty years I've never come across these guys before. I don't know what the rest of their discography sounds like but wow, these guys must really like Tool a lot if this is anything to go by. I mean the vocalist is endeavouring to sound EXACTLY like Maynard James Keenan (fairly successfully I must admit). Sounding like Tool seems to have got a bad name over recent years, but there are a lot worse bands to seek to emulate. Anyway, this is excellently performed and the songs are decent, even if it isn't my go-to kind of album I can appreciate it up to a certain point. I wouldn't buy it but I wouldn't turn it off if it came on randomly on Spotify or something. More my kind of Gateway release than most in that clan.

3.5/5

Whitechapel - Kin (2021)

I remember hearing Whitechapel on one or two Terrorizer Fear Candy cover discs (which I still have somewhere) and fucking hating them! Since then I have given them a very wide berth indeed, so it is with some trepidation that, fifteen years later, I approach their latest album, Kin. Well I must say, the intervening years have been pretty kind to these once-irritating deathcore merchants because this is really good and I found myself enjoying it quite a lot. Like an annoying angsty teenager who has grown up to be quite the poet or artist as he hits middle-age, the band have matured and directed their energies into a more coherent and artistically satisfying direction. Sure, there's still anger and aggression here, but much better controlled and expressed than when they were younger. The calmer, clean sung sections provide a relief from the accumulated aggression, making it more effective as a result and giving it a progressive death metal atmosphere. I would have liked to hear them explore these clean sections a little further and think that would be a rewarding avenue for them to pursue going forward. All in all though I was pleasantly surprised by this and will look out for any further releases from Whitechapel with much more anticipation than before.

3.5/5