Gates Announce Release Date For Debut Album ‘Bloom & Breathe’

Love a bit of alt post-rock? Well, you are in luck as New Jersey’s Gates have just revealed plans to drop their highly anticipated, first full length record. ‘Bloom & Breathe’ is scheduled for release on October 20th via Pure Noise Records. The band has also given their lucky fans a sneak preview of the album’s art, track list AND they will be debuting tracks from said new album in the coming weeks.

Mike Watts (As Tall As Lions, As Cities Burn) and guitarist/vocalist Kevin Dye are on co-producing duties and Vudu Studios in Port Jefferson, NY was the recording venue of choice. ‘Bloom & Breathe’ is a dynamic record that exhibits this band’s maturity and their skillful songwriting abilities. The album includes beautiful, complex tracks like ‘Not My Blood’ and ‘At Last The Loneliest of Them’ feature epic, sweeping post-rock soundscapes intertwined with vulnerable alternative rock vocals that provide a cathartic balance to the music’s overall ethereal feel. Major goosebumps alert!

Following two very well-received EPs (2011’s ‘The Sun Will Rise And Lead Me Home’ and 2013’s ‘You Are All You Have Left To Fear’), Dye along with fellow members Dan King (guitar), Mike Maroney (bass), Daniel Crapanzano (drums) and Ethan Koozer (guitar) set to work on their new record in early 2014. Having previously done all the recording on their own, the band reached out to Watts who helped expand the band’s sound in the studio.

“It was sort of like Mike became the sixth member of Gates,” King explains. “He was really quick with everything and his insight made so much sense. He knew what amp and guitar to use to capture the tone of every part and I think it shows in the recording. It was nice working with someone we completely trusted who could really dissect the music from an outsider’s point of view.”

From the awe-inspiring opening interlude of ‘Everything That Has Ever Been’ to the final notes of the tension-shifting outro ‘Everything That Will Ever Be’, ‘Bloom & Breathe’ is nothing less than a sonic passport that takes the captive listener on an emotional journey that’s difficult to articulate via simple words. However, despite the impressive arrangements on songs like ‘Bloom’ at its core the album is composed of guitar, bass and drums with no extraneous instrumentation.

“I look at what we can do with three guitars as a challenge and that pushes us moving forward,” Dye says. “Instead of playing a Rhodes piano, I want to figure out how we can create that sound using effects. I think that limitation allows us to manipulate the traditional rock outfit because we’re forced to really mold the aspect of the band that defines us.”

That’s not to say that this record contains nothing but rousing anthems. For every song like ‘Born Dead’, there’s also those like the emotionally tinged ‘Marrow’ which introduces a new sense of vulnerability to Gates’ sound.

“We’re obviously capable of making giant walls of sound, but we wanted to see if we could also write a good song that’s just a voice and an acoustic guitar,” Dye adds.

You can definitely hear the artistic influences creeping in on the ambient, Deftones inspired ‘At Last The Loneliest Of Them’, and it is a track that Gates have been eager to create as Dye reveals:

“I’ve had the idea of this song in the back of my head for seven years, and for these guys to add their parts to it and have it finally come to life was such an incredible experience.”

He also adds that the song has a heaviness that may surprise some Gates fans upon that first listen.

“We put everything that we had into this album, we questioned every note on the record, and we feel that this is the best result we could have made,” King summarizes.

Can’t wait until October? Join the club! Well, because we love you lot so much we have also included the track below for you to check out:

Bloom & Breathe Track List: