Band:	Iron Reagan / Gatecreeper
Album:	Iron Reagan / Gatecreeper
Style:	Punk, Hardcore, Crossover thrash metal
Release date:	March 2018

Iron Reagan
01. Warning
02. Paper Shredder
03. Take The Fall
04. Proudly Unaccountable
05. Burn For This

Gatecreeper
06. Daybreak (Intro)
07. Dead Inside
08. War Has Begun

East Coast crossover thrashers Iron Reagan and Arizona-based death metallers Gatecreeper unite their powers for a split recording and the purpose is clear; cross promotion. These two bands haven't got anything in common besides the fact that they are Relapse Records labelmates and they both craft face-melting, kick-ass music.

Iron Reagan members fill, or have filled the ranks of Municipal Waste, Mammoth Grinder, Cannabis Corpse and Darkest Hour alike. Their sound is influenced by vintage Suicidal Tendencies, Anthrax and Nuclear Assault and they contribute the first five songs of this short split.

Right from the get-go Iron Reagan deliver a blitz attack with "Warning" and don't slow down until the closer, "Burn For This", which is also the best and most "complete" track they present here. Don't expect anything particularly different in terms of style compared to the group's previous offerings. Nonetheless, the songwriting has improved significantly. Excluding the 44-second long "Proudly Unaccountable", the other four tracks are superior to most of the content of last year's Crossover Ministry or Municipal Waste's Slime And Punishment.

The adrenaline-flowing fun suddenly stops and the atmosphere becomes murky and dismal with the first notes of the instrumental intro "Daybreak", which opens the gate of Gatecreeper's volcanic death metal pit. These American deathsters overtly worship Entombed. And Dismember. And Bolt Thrower. And Obituary. Good for them, they have good taste. If you have not listened to 2016's Sonoran Depravation, the tracks here will make you look for it immediately. The band's principal talent is not just the ability to unleash a barrage of outstanding riffs, but their remarkable skill of changing speeds and seamlessly blending slow-tempo, demolishing chugs with relentless, high-speed battering. Both "Dead Inside" and "War Has Begun" are grand examples of how old-school death metal can sound contemporary and fresh and will whet your appetite for a new full-length from Gatecreeper.

There isn't much to complain about this split album apart from the fact that it is too short, clocking in at 18 minutes and at least one more track by Gatecreeper should have been included. The mix by Converge's Kurt Ballou is excellent and highlights both bands' strong points, be it the lead guitar sound and infectious energy of Iron Reagan or the annihilating riffing and gigantic rhythm section of Gatecreeper. If you have not yet come across with one band or the other, this will make you a fan.

"Don't try to shift the blame around
We all know that we're going down
You have been warned!"

"Burn rival grounds we leave behind
Death is the end of hostility?"