The Lads

Hello again,

It is time to formally introduce the current lineup of Gatekeeper.

Jean-Pierre Abboud on lead vocals. A familiar face for anyone in Michigan scene, recently relocated to Portland, OR. Many will recognize him as the voice behind fantastic groups such as Borrowed Time and the most recent incarnation of Funeral Circle. An absolute workhorse and monster of a frontman. It's a different, but very distinctive and skillful new voice for Gatekeeper and I'm proud to him him on board.
All photos taken by Shane Lange at Factotum Photography.

Some of you have already met my good friend David Messier, who stands out in the Vancouver heavy metal scene as a warrior who will brave any conditions to sling beers and bass guitar on the stage. After a long stint performing with local hellions Manic Strike, David brings an honest dedication to true heavy metal which is matched by very few.
All photos taken by Shane Lange at Factotum Photography.

He's easy to miss behind his massive percussion apparatus, but please welcome Tommy Tro to the fold. Folks might know him as the bassist for prog/power stalwarts Elysium Echoes but when I heard his blazing double-kicks during a Blind Guardian cover song, I knew he had the strength and discipline I was looking for. A better musician than most and a true friend.
All photos taken by Shane Lange at Factotum Photography.

Yours truly. 100% dedicated to bringing the best heavy metal I'm capable of delivering to the world.
All photos taken by Shane Lange at Factotum Photography.

Gatekeeper MMXVI.
All photos taken by Shane Lange at Factotum Photography.

I would also like to extend a massive "thank you" to Luke Olsen for playing lead guitar with us for  many of our shows, including our west coast tour and our performance in Chicago.

Currently, we are blessed with the talents and fretboard wizardry of Kenny Kroecher, who Vancouverites know from our good friends in Iron Kingdom. Kenny has been helping us out both onstage and in our recent studio efforts and we hope to continue on with him moving forward.

I was worried that I would never find a group of musicians who would be as capable as the Edmonton crew (Shorre, Tyson, Leillyn, Rob and Justin -- thank you all for the work and effort for those years) but I'm pleased to say that the new Gatekeeper is everything I hoped it would be and much more.

I look forward to presenting our new material, both onstage and on record.

Until next time,

Jeff

Chosen To Pay The Price

Welcome back.

We are pleased to announce that Gatekeeper will be taking part in the upcoming Skol Records release "Pounding Metal: A Tribute To Exciter" with a cover song. Skol Records have just released the cover art for the compilation this weekend:

Very cool stuff. The release will be available on April 28, 2017 and features tracks from a variety of great artists from both the modern and elder era of Heavy Metal. We're thrilled to be listed alongside acts such as  Attacker, Crystal Viper, Evil Invaders, Ironsword, Masters of Disguise, October 31, RAM, Ranger, Savage Master, Vader and Visigoth. 

Are you as excited as we are?

Gatekeeper Gear - VSK Guitars - OS6

We at Gatekeeper only select the finest of weaponry for use live and in the studio. When I saw this beauty listed on VSK's webpage I had to pull the trigger. Just the view clip above for a demonstration featuring brand new riffs you will soon hear from Gatekeeper.

See myself, my VSK OS6 and the rest of Gatekeeper onstage at The Astoria on November 12th!

- Jeff

November 12th @ Astoria, Vancouver

Hello again,

Summer of 2016 has fled and monsoon season has taken hold of the Pacific Northwest.

We would like to thank everyone who attended our two summer gigs a Funkys + Red Room during the summer months. We had a blast playing with such luminaries as Hibria, Iron Kingdom and Odinfist and hope to see them again soon, onstage or off.

We are pleased to announce that we will be playing one final show in 2016, returning to The Astoria in Vancouver to support or close friends in Riot City and Gatekrashor on their western Canadian tour. Also performing are Codex: Factoria. We will be premiering new material at this gig, which will be featured on our forthcoming full-length album. See below for details.

Gatekeeper's lineup for this show (and for the upcoming record) will be thus:

Jean-Pierre Abboud - Lead Vocals
Geoffrey Blackwell - Guitars
David Messier - Bass
Tommy Tro - Drums
Kenneth Slaughterfield - Lead Guitars

Saturday, November 12th, 2016.

The Astoria Pub (769 East Hastings Street)

**Doors at 8pm**– 19+ No Minors

**$10 COVER**

We've been extremely busy with planning, pre-production, rehearsing and drinking ourselves silly and this has had a negative impact on our communication. We shall attempt to turn over a new leaf by updating this page on a weekly basis with photos, video clips and other shenanigans as we prep for our upcoming record. 

'Til next time,

Geoff Blackwell+ Gatekeeper

August 10th @ Red Room, Vancouver

New gig, supporting Brazilian metal maniacs HIBRIA on their world tour. We've been fans of theirs since the first album so you can imagine our excitement. Also on the bill are WMD from Calgary, formerly known as SHRAPNEL. These youngsters played with the old incarnation of Gatekeeper two years ago at our final Edmonton show so it'll be great to share a stage with them again.

Be forewarned: It's a Wednesday night. Don't wimp out.

The Shadow Retracts

Our Shadow Over Cascadia mini-tour was an absolute roaring success. We at Gatekeeper would like to take a moment thank everyone who came out to The Astoria on a Wednesday night and the bar staff for hosting us. Special thanks to The Ash Street Saloon in Portland for their warm welcome and of course the Highline in Seattle for being one of the best venues in the PNW.

Massive thanks to Max and Amy and the rest of the Substratum crew for letting us crash, use their gear and for helping us land the Satan opening slot, you guys are incredible. Massive thanks to Cam from Spell for helping us out in a real bind when we got back to Canada, and a huge standing ovation to Wes Craven from Heavy Metal Eyes for sending us the initial invitation that started all the madness back in December. Another huge shoutout to the other great bands we shared the stage with such as Elysium Echoes, Road Rash, Time Rift, Skelator, Nox Velum and SATAN!

Rest assured Cascadia, we will return...

For We Walk Alone

Available exclusively at our upcoming gigs: Compilation CD featuring our tracks from the Vigilance recording sessions. Pro-pressed discs packaged in hand-folded cardstock envelopes, sealed with wax.

Support the DIY underground this spring as we cast our shadow across Cascadia.

March 23 - The Astoria, Vancouver BC

March 26 - Ash Street Saloon, Portland, OR

March 28 - The Highline, Seattle, WA

May 06 - Reggies Music Joint, Chicago, IL (Ragnarokkr Festival)

June 10 - Funky Winkerbeans, Vancouver, BC

Upcoming Gigs

Epic Heavy Metal in your area code in 2016:

Vancouver, BC

Portland, OR

Seattle, WA

Chicago, IL

Vancouver, BC

A Shadow Over Cascadia

Time to unveil a little something we've been putting together over the holidays:

We at Gatekeeper are thrilled to announce A SHADOW OVER CASCADIA, a string of shows across the Pacific Northwest during the Easter long weekend. We will begin in our home base of Vancouver and conclude in Seattle, where we will open for NWOBHM legends, SATAN. We are also pleased to be sharing the stage with our friends and allies in true metal luminaries SKELATOR and SUBSTRATUM for both the Seattle and Portland shows, plus a variety of other incredible acts.

Nitty-gritty details for each show will be released in the coming weeks, but for now, here is the current tour itinerary. Please check back regularly for updates.

(Please note that we are currently in the process of booking March 24^th in Abbotsford, BC or another Fraser Valley venue, and the 25^th in Olympia, WA. If any bands or promoters in those areas are interested in getting involved with our roadshow, please contact us at gatekeeper@live.ca)