Artist: The Gate Album: Scum (cassette) Side A: Elmer Ohwell Knew / Toilet Demon / Blood Pudding 2 Daddy’s Doobie / Meat Baby / Xenobites / Creatures of Rabbit Inside Poems / Stump Dweller / Troll Junkies Label: Tubapede Records #15 Release date: October 31, 2023 “…pitch-black rainbows of delusion-inducing free skronk.” Tabs Out, House of Snuzz “Over 78 minutes of powerful terror-drone fit for those Halloween nights." - Ed Pinsent, The Sound Projector, Live! "Peck's long-running trio The Gate, with double bassist Tom Blancarte and drummer Brian Osborne, play roiling sludge that makes Black Sabbath sound lithe and springy—it seethes, grinds, and throbs at the bottom end of the sonic spectrum." - Peter Margasak, Chicago Reader Scum is the ninth release from tuba, bass and drums behemoth The Gate. In contrast to the open sprawl and pained explorations of their last two albums, House of Snuzz and Live!, Scum reveals the band pivoting to a shorter, denser type of material, coming to a head on tracks such as “Meat Baby” and “Toilet Demon”. The arc shifts midway through to a more introspective and heavier second half, with the melodies of “Inside Poems” and “Stump Dweller” sure to be welcome additions to the collection of any serious riffologist. Solos from Osborne and Blancarte further darken the mood, and album artwork from Matt Minter hastens your descent into another world - hopefully you’ll be able to escape. The walls are closing in…wait, those aren’t walls at all… Scum is a limited edition purple tint cassette of 100 with direct shell imprinting and original artwork by Matt Minter on 80lb stock. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Colin Marston at Menegroth The Thousand Caves in early 2023.