I don’t know what’s been happening in Australia of late, but that country has been birthing some amazingly heavy bands. Maybe it’s a case of cultural assertion, but whatever the reason, I’m sure glad because now we have Heavensgate making the world a little better (and a lot heavier). Formed in 2020, the band had the pandemic to circumnavigate, but since then it has been full steam ahead with the band kicking down the sonic boundaries which seek to confine metalcore. Now signed to Pure Noise Records, Heavensgate drop their latest release, the six track EP A Heart Is A Heavy Burden.
As you’d expect from a band who swim in the deeper waters of metalcore, Heavensgate don’t waste time of fancy introductions or elongated meanderings, there’s just a wall of feedback and then the band arrive with the kind of skull-smashing pummelling which wheels out the heavy artillery. Image two heavyweight boxers trading blows inside a telephone box and you’d have something approaching the knockout punch of opening track ‘BURDEN OF BEING’. However, don’t mistake power as a substitute for lack of invention because there’s plenty going on within these grooves. This EP is a multilayered affair with lots of treasure buried beneath the surface. As such A Heart Is A Heavy Burden is the kind of release that will reward repeat plays as nuances hidden deep in the mix reveal themselves on successive spins. It means that this release will work just as well in a sticky club as it will during bedroom musings. But wherever it is unleashed, it’s guaranteed to cause mayhem (in the best possible way, of course), this isn’t the kind of EP you play as background music, rather it’s guaranteed to create a reaction in all who hear it (or, at least, anyone with a pulse).
Heavensgate understand that heaviness comes in many forms, sometimes it can come in the form of emotional weight, and that’s precisely what ‘DARLING BLUE’ serves up. It’s still unbearably heavy and weighs upon the listener like a concrete overcoat, yet it derives much of its power from the kind of tones and notes which resonate on a deep, primordial level. It’s a neat move and one that ensures that Heavensgate don’t paint themselves into a corner, it should serve them well later in their career and opens up musical avenues waiting to be explored. Yet, heavy is what this quartet do best and ‘A FAWN FLAYED’ finds them departing as they arrived and leaving scorched earth in their wake. Heavenly.
- A Heart Is A Heavy Burden is released via Pure Noise Records on 24th October 2025.
- Official Website | Facebook | Instagram
Track List:
- BURDEN OF BEING
- OBLIVION
- RAIN
- PETRICHOR
- DARLING BLUE
- A FAWN FLAYED
