Recorded in 2000/2001 and initially issued on a mere 150 CD-Rs, this record is a crucial transitional release in Xasthur's blackened oeuvre, when mastermind Malefic was put in the position of runnin Xasthur as a one-man operation. As such, GATE is the accursed genesis of Xasthur as you know it/him today: cold, black and solitary; the sequestered misanthrope with a heart full of hate. In 2004, a more instrumental version of the album was released by Sweden's Total Holocaust Records on cassette and CD, and eventually appeared as limited edition vinyl from France's Debemur Morti Productions. This deluxe 2 CD package is the final version, re-mastered and complete with an entire bonus disc of material from the same prolific era.