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Colorado’s Nightbringer are on the precipice of releasing their fourth full-length, Ego Dominus Tuus, translated from Latin as “I am your Lord.” An imposing title indeed for an equally formidable outfit whose prior works of bone-chilling black metal have been flaying fans for the past decade, beginning with the aptly titled Death and the Black Work. Today, we tease the release of Ego Dominus Tuus with the premiere of the record’s fifth track, “I am the Gateway.”

As an eerie seven-minute sprawl, the song is a single monolith among a grander formation. Appropriately towering, “I am the Gateway” showcases Nightbringer gnashing their unholy fangs with a red shine. Wailing guitars haunt the upper echelons of reality, outdoing even the creeping vocals, which exist in a realm between death and that one final breath. Symphonic crescendos topple over one another silently, wrapping the listener in the skin-cracking shockwave that follows. Blast beats thunder over the murderous quake of the bass pedals, falling only to quickly rise with knives bared, ready for the ritual at hand. “I am the Gateway” is both majestic and darkly magical, a hymn to the mysterious, unquenchable thirst that is Death.

"The lyrics deal with the revelation of the higher self in the vision and communion with the absolute other,” said vocalist ar-Ra’d al-Iblis. “The diabolic and daimonic brother who is met at the edge of borders into the Unknown. It speaks of the pact between self and non-self, manifest and transcendental, spoken and the unthinkable. Met in the circle of pacts, these two principles coming together in the daring of facing each other reveals the mystical peaks of the magical arts."

"I am the Gateway" appears on the record Ego Dominus Tuus. The album will be released September 29 by Season of Mist and it's available for preorder now.

— Bruce Hardt

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