The forbidden knowledge has to be, that mixing dungeon synth and raw black metal in this way is a winning combination. Sometimes the brightest truths are the ones that are there in plain sight, waiting to be grasped. LOL
Anyway – Gate Master is the project centralising around founding Cradle Of Filth member Paul Ryan (who’s been out of the band since the debut record). The black metal is raw, disgusting and frenetic, which is just bloody brilliant. I find myself far more immersed however in the excellent ambient and ‘dungeon synth’ compositions. The absolutely beautiful “Flesh And Bone” starts off sounding like Tony Wakeford and Rose McDowall doing some sort of mad crossover with prison-era Burzum, and finishes off with vibes that are not a million miles from Michael Gira doing a dungeon synth version of the first five minutes of “The Sound”. “A Vision Known Before” is equally mesmerising, invoking that Nada!-era Di6 vibe heavily alongside the more dungeon-y (lol) synthesizers.
Gate Master is a fantastic project, In Pursuit of Forbidden Knowledge… is a fantastic record, and this is definitely one project to keep an eye on, should it continue.