Gatecreeper, Enforced and 200 Stab Wounds are leading the extreme metal revolution

‘Apes together strong.’

It’s a primitive mentality that’s served the world of extreme music for generations. There was the ground-breaking union of the fresh-faced Venom, Slayer and Exodus on 1985’s Ultimate Revenge tour. The titanic meeting of Napalm Death, Carcass, Morbid Angel and Bolt Thrower for 1989’s Grindcrusher jaunt has become the stuff of lore. And then there’s been ultra-stacked packages boasting Ministry, Helmet and Sepultura, or Botch, Jesuit and The Dillinger Escape Plan.

Point being: pulling together has long been a route for bands on the brink to break from the underground.

“When I was a kid and I saw bands I liked out on tour together, it felt like they were so much bigger than they really were,” grins Chase Mason. “I’m not talking about those touring festivals that were all the rage back then – Ozzfest, Summer Slaughter, Sounds Of The Underground. I mean actual tours where friends just hit the road. They might not have been the biggest acts in the world, but the fact that they were teaming up felt like Transformers: ‘Oh shit, this is huge!’”

Today the Gatecreeper frontman is living that reality. Having emerged from Arizona’s Sonoran Desert with their trademark tank-track death metal attack a decade ago, Chase and his bandmates have ascended to the forefront of a new wave in heavy music. Joined by Ohio brutalists 200 Stab Wounds and Virginia thrashers Enforced, it’s hard to shake the feeling of heavy history repeating.

Even a few dates into their European triple-header there’s more metal mayhem than an Autobots assemblage. And, pitching up at Manchester’s Damnation Festival, all three outfits feel legitimately massive, with most of the gathering’s 5,000-odd punters enjoying the onslaught of uncompromising brutality.

“It feels like this is where we should be,” Chase continues in the boxing gym that doubles as the festival’s press area, as our frontmen enthusiastically ham it up for K!’s camera. “We’ve been over to European festivals before and the aim, recently, has become to write songs that are supposed to be played on stages this size.”

“The thing with Gatecreeper is that they didn’t just write songs worthy of this kind of stage,” nods 200 Stab Wounds mainman Steve Buhl. “It’s that they did so while staying true to their sound. I’ve known Gatecreeper forever. They don’t sound much different to how they did 10 years ago. They’re just better. They can crush it in a venue like this, but they still make sense in a smaller room.”

“I’ll be completely honest,” adds Enforced vocalist Knox Colby, offering an alternative viewpoint, still hoarse having just stepped offstage. “The first time we were in Europe, we got asked to do Hellfest and it kinda overextended our expectations. The next show, you’re playing to 10 or 15 people. You realise not every day will be like that, and it can become a struggle and a strain. But no matter the show, you make some lifelong friends. And when a show like this comes up, we come back stronger!”

Watching the carnage unfold, there are intriguing comparisons and contrasts. Gatecreeper’s big, groovy bludgeon feels custom-made for spaces like Bowlers Exhibition Centre, combining equal parts In Flames and Paradise Lost, with the more flamboyantly gothic flourishes from latest album Dark Superstition acknowledged as peak “HIM-creeper” with acute self-awareness.

Off the back of killer EP A Leap Into The Dark, Enforced deliver an evil thrash onslaught so reminiscent of vintage Slayer that several fans remark how happy they are not to have blown the bank to see Kerry King and co. reunite in the States.

Meanwhile, 200 Stab Wounds are the darkest and most unsettling of the bunch. Their gruesome, grinding racket – which is never more incisive than on June’s ferocious second LP, Manual Manic Procedures – is the most unexpected on stages of this size, but it goes down a storm at Damnation where spiritual predecessors Cannibal Corpse and Carcass have previously topped the bill.

“The factor that unites us all is riffs. And love. And love for riffs,” Chase explains. “We’re all friends. We all knew each other before this tour. We wanted to put something together where we could visit new places, and to bring our friends along. We love this music, and we love each other.”

“All it takes is one guy and it can be enough to ruin the fuckin’ tour for 30 people,” adds Steve. “I’ve been on a lot of tours where somebody sucks. Us already being friends makes a tour like this – especially one outside the U.S. – so much easier. You’re not meeting people for the first time. You’re not finding yourself out on the road with someone who turns out to be an asshole. Everything is going smoothly so far – not bad, considering they are the biggest shows we’ve played over here.”

“Man, this feels like a group therapy session!” laughs Knox. “But it’s cool. On paper, this might not look like a totally cohesive bill, but it really sticks together. It resonates thanks to the friendship and appreciation that we feel for each other. That binding contract of love and support.”

Aggression is in the air throughout the BEC. A constant mosh spins from dancefloor to dancefloor, as bruised and bloodied bodies topple freely over the barricades.

Up in the boxing ring, much as their self-confessed ‘kayfabe’ machismo owes a lot to the larger-than-life world of pro-wrestling, so too is life behind-the-scenes a far-cry from the brutal, blood-spattered scene some may have in their heads.

Boiling the visceral experience of life on tour to “crazy smells, busting balls and brotherly love”, Chase exudes big older-sibling energy, guiding the way, having seen it all before. Steve is quieter and more intense, watching everything and speaking seriously. Knox is the joker in the pack, taking every opportunity to bullshit or to trade good-natured barbs.

Much of the banter so far has been around Chase’s efforts to convince people that his Enforced counterpart actually is an unspecified YouTube personality to whom he apparently bears a startling resemblance.

“I’m so fucking mad about that,” Knox sighs, dramatically. “But I can’t deny the similarity. I just wish I could clap back with something smart…”

The juiciest tale from tour, meanwhile, involves them being “punished” on Halloween in Bristol by an obnoxious fan who didn’t know when to call it a night, how Chase was able to surreptitiously “pass him on” to Knox when they crossed paths in a local watering hole, and the subsequent challenge of losing said fan before the fancy-dress festivities got underway.

“That guy wasn’t just a regular punisher,” Knox shakes his head. “He wasn’t even a Terminator. He was an exterminator. He was absolutely out for blood!”

“We are a motley crew, but it’s not like we’re Mötley Crüe,” Chase expands. “We do normal stuff. Before the show we’ll grab coffee or go to the record store. Backstage, it’s mostly just a bunch of dudes hanging out and trying to find some space where they can sleep for a little bit…”

“That Mötley Crüe image grinds my fuckin’ gears,” Knox cuts in. “I have lost many a relationship over the idea that [there are security guys handing backstage passes to girls in the crowd] when really we’re not doing shit. We’re getting chicken tenders and maybe something to drink!”

“The best part of the day is that hour or so where you play, then the rest of it is either okay or it just fuckin’ sucks,” Steve says, wiping fresh sweat from his brow but looking ready to jump onstage again. “Mostly it just sucks. You’re either travelling all the time or waiting around for nothing to happen.”

Steel sharpens steel, however. And the 200 Stab Wounds man qualifies his complaint with the fact that those 60 minutes onstage – and maybe another couple of hours watching his tourmates – is invaluable.

“It’s like a friendly competition,” he says. “One night we’ll suck and maybe Enforced will kick our ass. But getting to see either of these guys onstage always makes me want to up my game.”

All three agree that the blend of familial affection and friendly one-upmanship on this tour could be taken as a microcosm of the broader rise of the American underground metal scene. In recent times, joint tours with the likes of Frozen Soul, Final Gasp, Creeping Death, Blood Incantation, Jarhead Fertilizer and Undeath – to name a few – have almost lifted up both individual bands and the entire extreme metal ecosystem in which they exist. Less are shows afflicted with what Knox calls the “fuck you horseshoe” of empty space where a pit should be, and fans’ enthusiasm to throw themselves in is infectious, getting more and more involved.

Further still, Chase sees the injection of fresh blood and sense of roadworn community opening heavy music up, toppling old narrow attitudes and empowering bands to emphasise their individuality.

“I come from the era of Jamey Jasta’s Headbangers Ball,” he explains. “Back then, metal, hardcore and other heavy music were mixed. I was young and dumb enough that I didn’t really know the difference. I just watched it on MTV2 late at night and enjoyed it all because it was heavy. I didn’t know if it was hardcore, death metal or metalcore. And that was during the new wave of American heavy metal with bands like Lamb Of God and Killswitch Engage. That’s what it feels like right now. I’ve experienced that old gatekeeping, but I’ve just made the personal decision that I don’t care. You might be a band that people make fun of, but if you can weather that storm, you can go on to make it. These shows are proof of that.”

“We’ll tour with anybody,” nods Steve. “We just go out to riff and steal new fans. And most people don’t really want to sit through a show where all the bands sound the same, anyway. It’s more interesting when everyone has their own thing going on.”

“I’d venture that it’s not even about ‘metal’ anymore,” Knox adds. “It’s about ‘aggressive music’. It’s hard. It’s grinding. It’s fucking visceral. When you realise that, no matter how different they sounded, so many of the bands that you looked up to were friends who worked together, it makes everything feel so much more possible.”

So, this tour is proof that death metal is more alive than ever?

“It’s like a family unit where we’re all here for each other,” Knox smiles. “It’s awesome that we have so many homies experiencing this rising tide at the same time.

“Long may it continue.”

This article originally appeared in the winter 2024 issue of the magazine.

Gatecreeper’s album Dark Superstition, 200 Stab Wounds’ album Manual Manic Procedures and Enforced’s EP A Leap Into The Dark are all out now.

Read this next:

• Gatecreeper: “Death metal is sacred, and you’re passing it from generation to generation… a lot of genres don’t have that”
• 10 reasons why you need Undeath in your life
• Frozen Soul: “Life is cold… so let’s stay together, let’s be warm to the people close to us, let’s lift each other up”