Introducing: Gate Of Mind

French band Gate Of Mind have honed a deliciously intense but oddly catchy old-school groovy hardcore meets thrash sound that they unusually describe as “cuddles, kisses, love.”

The Montpellier band started out as the compositions of guitarist Tony, who then brought the rest of the band on board. That includes vocalist Thibaud, new drummer Sacha, bassist Benoît and guitarist Guillaume (Guigui), who describes the band’s sound to us: “One of the latest reviews describes us as a legacy of 90s groove thrash sound combined with modern hardcore touches. This is quite relevant.

“We wouldn’t dare to compare ourselves with bands like Pantera, Lamb of God, but if you like those, you might not completely lose your time listening to us. Speaking of sound, we must thank Fred Brerro from South Hill Studio and Brett Caldas-Lima from Tower Studio, who recorded, mixed and mastered The Beast Inside.”

That leads us nicely onto the band’s second EP The Beast Inside, which was released last year. It opens up with big chunky guitars in the intro to Buried, which continue as vicious screamed vocals take over. A cool riff jumps in alongside driving guitars and engaging vocals in a fast-paced groovy romp, which drops into huge bass drum supporting chugging guitar riffs.

A personal favourite is second track Awakening, which begins with lively guitars that feed into a fast-paced verse. Vicious vocals give way to a cool little guitar lick over stabbing guitar chords then engaging vocals over a fun stabbing lick. Chunky guitar chords support heavy vocals before a lively outro.

That’s followed by the intense Face It, which features delicious chugging guitars and driving drums under Thibaud’s wild vocals. The pace drops midway through for a laid-back guitar solo before launching into more chaos.

And the EP concludes with the aptly titled Insane, which opens up with delicious chugging guitar chords that continue under intense vocals. A cheeky little darting guitar solo takes over and gives way to heavy vocals and chunky chords, before a fun darting low-tuned riff builds towards a wild outro to bring the EP to a superb conclusion.

On the EP, Guigui tells us: People can expect to get something rushing down from their ears to kick their ass from inside. We had very good feedback so far, which makes us proud and confident for the future. The songs were designed to be catchy, aggressive and efficient on stage, and we must say they get an explosive dimension when we play them live. But we also tried to include another colour in the composition, by the addition of heavy and melodic touches.”

Gate Of Mind draw influence from late 80s and 90s bands that founded or enhanced groove and thrash metal like Pantera, Machine Head, Slayer, Lamb of God, along with other metal and progressive influences.

And on what inspires them to write music, Guigui explains: “Lyrics are mainly flowing out of the sick, fucked up brain of Thibaud. The denial of the individual, and the frustration and anger it carries, are the result of a disease of society, in which freedom depends on obedience, and is measured by our ability to be good consumers and good believers. This is a recurrent theme for us and Thibaud’s voice, at the core of our sound, is the best way to make it surge.”

This is the latest in a long line of great new French bands we’ve spoken to over the years. And on the French metal scene, Guigui tells us: “Feel free to speak to any French metal band you want, because there are a lot of them! It is true that the metal/rock scene in France still tends to mostly remain ‘underground,’ and bands like ours are used to playing in a limited area around their birthplace. Regardless of motivation or talent, it is not easy to increase your network by yourself and be booked in bigger concert halls and festivals if you’re not supported by a label, which is one of our intentions today.

“However, even if not every band in France can pretend to become as famous as Gojira, you can now find some emerging french metal bands on big European stages, such as Disconnected, Acod, Scarlean, Akiavel… Not to mention the ‘old’ ones who are still there like Benighted, Loudblast, Psykup, Mass Hysteria, Alcest, Gorod.”

2023 promises to be a big one for Gate Of Mind as the band hope to finish and record their first full-length by the end of the year. They already have plenty of new songs in construction with older tracks to rearrange and record. And expect to see the band on stage or, in their words, “in the circle pit” as much as possible.

You can follow Gate Of Mind on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube.