Oh the 1980s. What a simple time. Valley Girl vernacular plagued communication in America; Molly Ringwald was still Pretty in Pink; Nancy Reagan fought the “war on drugs” with her “Just Say No” campaign; Super Mario Bros. captivated just about all the children in the world; and Marty McFly charmed the pants off of millions.
We're all a little better off for most of the events and trends that took place then. Technology exploded into the world-dominating behemoth it is today, and more people were born in the '80s than any other decade. I mean, it's the decade that supplied us with the creation of MTV, new wave, mullets, Saved by the Bell, and most importantly, Return of the Jedi.
Must I even mention “Thriller”?
Nevertheless, the '80s are a commonly misunderstood and misrepresented decade. The disastrous year of 1986, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and the beginning of the AIDS pandemic are all examples of the murkier side of the period.
Gatekeeper, Brooklyn and Chicago's death dance output, are more focused on that macabre aspect of the time – the Mount St. Helens, Space Shuttle Challenger and Chernobyl side of the spectrum. They feed off of the Cold War apocalyptacism of the '80s, and they do it perfectly, molding it with a b-horror movie mentality. They've crafted a sinister sound that embodies the commonly overlooked dark side. Utilizing low end percussion, crisp synth peaks and some legitimately creepy samples, they've captured that stand-still-in-terror pall over that era. They've gone the opposite direction most do when taking cues from the '80s. Instead of Molly and Emilio, you get Freddy and Jason.
The Giza EP, Gatekeeper's second release, dropped at the end of 2010 and quickly sold out, prompting a reissue shortly after the start of the year on Merok Records. With an album cover like that, not much is left to the imagination. It looks as if Salvador Dali and Sam Raimi got together and created the cover for an arcade game, which is quite indicative of Gatekeeper's brand of noise.
Giza spans over six haunting synth drenched tracks that are as murderous as they are dance floor friendly. Let me tell you, this music has muscle. The opener “Chains”, for instance, begins with the roar of a motorcycle engine revving into action followed by a flash-bang thud into a relentless grinding beat. An X-Files influenced Mark Snow-esque UFO sequence builds over a frightened girl pleading and a man's scream repeats throughout. The end drives up the suspense by incorporating a rendition of the iconic breathy Friday the 13th “ch ch ah ah” rattle amongst the metallic grinding and high pitched synth shifts.
Gatekeeper changes pace a bit with the slow burn of “Storm Column.” It constructs a claustrophobic tone by using repetition to its advantage. There is a truly sinister sense of lurking danger to this song. The monstrous breathing plaguing the background, the vocal samples of a bewildered girl and the winding cyclical beat create a barrier between the listener and the outside world, fueling the shroud of paranoia . It almost feels as if this is the theme to some masked maniac's hunt.
The menacing breathing and thrashing of Gatekeeper's unknowable monster continues through the muddled serpentine labyrinth of the aptly named "Serpent." Midway through, a synthesized woodwind takes the foreground along with an echoed and distorted black magic chant. A smoky shriek filled intro leads to the grave rave piping of the title track "Giza." If "Chains" was Friday the 13th, then "Giza" would be The Nightmare on Elm Street. It's ghostly bell and chime bridge and sample of a man jackel-laughing his way to the track's grim end are straight out of a Kreuger nightmare. "Mirage" holds its own with feverish female crooning and arpeggio drenched laser peaks. This track sounds like Solar Bears as serial killers. The album closer, "Oracle," is the Death Race of the bunch. Dueling synth lines race their way to the crash of the drums and samples of hell hounds gnashing and barking.
Aaron David Ross and Matthew Arkell, the two brains behind Gatekeeper, are somewhat of a mystery. Aaron is a multi-instrumentalist with multiple personalities, and a new medium artist with an eye for perfection. His website has a portfolio of his sprawling works and they are as impressive as they are diverse. Check out his Shoutbox Conductor of "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston, a 65 minute long hypnotic drone created in an incredibly clever way.
Aaron is not only 1/2 of Gatekeeper, but he is also 1/2 of Night Gallery, a side project with Adam Griffin of Golden Birthday. They met at a backyard screening of The Neverending Story, which should seem obvious when compared to their lush cinematic soundscapes. He was also a part of the spazz jazz of Epcot Center. As if his work wasn't eclectic enough already, add that he (along with the even more mysterious Matthew Arkell, as Gatekeeper) also produced the score for a bad ass mini-documentary Doctor Laser. It's about a laser and holography specialist, Jason Sapan, who coincidentally enough, is referred to as laser Doc Brown.
Gatekeeper have crafted a sound that leans on the sci-fi and horror of the '80s and '70s while feeding off of the entire aesthetic of the period. Their heavy use of samples doesn't force a narrative but establishes guidelines for the listener to fill in the blanks, giving them the opportunity to create their own twisted musical nightmare. They've created a time capsule of what it was like to be a terrified child in those times.
As the eerie deep voice states in the title track "Giza": "The essence of the album is contained, for now."
Here are some of the music videos they've created in collaboration with Thunder Horse Video.
GATEKEEPER "Chains" from Thunder Horse Video on Vimeo.
GATEKEEPER "Storm Column" from Thunder Horse Video on Vimeo.
GATEKEEPER "Oracle" AMV from Thunder Horse Video on Vimeo.
These guys definitely stay true to the trend. They released all of their music videos, including those posted here, on a limited release VHS available at Thunder Horse Video. How bad ass is that?
You can pick up both the Giza EP at Merok Records and the Optimus Maximus EP at Kompakt/Fright Records.