"...this band isn’t just making music—they’re building a world where weirdness reigns and feeling comes first" - Rock-Fueguino
"39th Gate Of Hell excel at delivering up garage rock that’s grungy and entertaining." - Analogue Trash
"THE BAND remind you that rock and roll is about more than rebellion; it's about finding your people inside the noise." Freim TV
"Raw rock, loud, uncensored, unapologetic: the fuzz-drenched yell of the garage anthem, the snarling of the New York Dolls, and a riot grrrl punch of unrepentant energy. " - Blaze Muse
"The lead vocalist was captivating, pulling poses and using the stage well... together to create a great wall of sound" - Rock Well Unscene
SHORT BIO:
A female-fronted Post-Punk alternative garage rock band combines punk attitude with dance grooves. Holding a foot in Sheffield and Austin, 39th Gate of Hell, is a multinational trio based around Turkish-born spoken word artist, Ayse Balkose and guitarist/singer, Ash Gray from Austin, TX. The group switches easily from whimsical and fun to seriously poetic subjects for a heavy groove-led style.
REVIEWS
ROCK FUEGUINO
"Love Hearts" by 39th Gate of Hell is a wild, genre-defying explosion of noisy hard rock, garage punk, and urban funk that throws the listener into a chaotic yet deeply intentional sonic world. Opening with a cavernous, distorted guitar intro and a spoken-word delivery that feels like a manifesto from the underground, the track quickly locks into a funky, danceable groove that pulses with raw energy. Fronted by the magnetic Ayse Balkose, whose vocals shift from fierce declaration to poetic introspection, the song builds with theatrical intensity before shattering its own structure in the final 40 seconds—abruptly breaking the melody and unleashing a surprising vocal shift that catches the ear and refuses to let go. The gritty bass tone? Entirely conjured from Ash Gray’s heavily manipulated guitar, a testament to the band’s inventive, no-compromise approach.
Recorded straight to analogue tape to preserve its warmth and rawness, "Love Hearts" is a statement of identity and acceptance from the multinational trio, split between Sheffield and Austin. Inspired by the internal tug-of-war between social conformity and total abandon, the song poses a radical question: what if we didn’t have to choose between chaos and calm? What if both could coexist in harmony? The answer is "Love Hearts"—their imagined community of misfits, dreamers, and truth-seekers. With Ayse’s incisive lyrics, Ash’s gritty riffs and arrangements, and Simon Hadwin’s powerful drumming and harmonies, 39th Gate of Hell crafts a sound that’s as emotionally rich as it is sonically abrasive. From underground punk venues to upcoming visuals featuring their enigmatic "Rubbish Robots," this band isn’t just making music—they’re building a world where weirdness reigns and feeling comes first.
Analogue Trash Mag https://www.analoguetrash.com/blog/39th-gate-of-hell-love-hearts
Sheffield rock with an international dimension via Texas and Turkey; 39th Gate Of Hell excel at delivering up garage rock that’s grungy and entertaining.
Love Hearts can be taken as straight-up rock, but with a lot going on under that reckless surface. The fuzzed-out garage of The 13th Floor Elevators – that Austin influence at play – has been refitted to factor in some New York (Dolls) sleaze and a whole dollop of riot grrrl empowerment. This is very much a song to enjoy with friends, maybe after a drink or two!
The band states that Love Hearts is “inspired by being completely racked at parties and wrestling with the split personality of keeping it ‘normal’ or crossing every line.”
“Love Hearts asks, what if we didn’t have to choose? What if both sides could exist in harmony? That’s the dream: a community where the chaos and the calm can live side by side. We call this community of weird people Love Hearts”.
“We recorded the song straight to analogue tape, because Ash (our guitarist) is obsessed with the warmth and grit of that sound. No digital polish, just raw tape and real feelings.”
BLAZE MUSE
There is a gloriously unruly quality to "Love Hearts," the new 39th Gate Of Hell release. At first, it hits you like raw rock, loud, uncensored, unapologetic. But if you listen a little closer, you can make out the layers: the fuzz-drenched yell of the garage anthem, The 13th Floor Elevators, a little bit of the loose wild of Austin, mixed with the snarling swagger of the New York Dolls, and let's not forget that there's a riot grrrl punch in that driving, unrepentant energy. It's messiness at its best, a track that challenges you to get lost in the noise.
But the real killer in "Love Hearts" is its question: what if we didn't have to choose? But what if the contradictions of wildness and order, chaos and calm, could coexist in harmony? That wish becomes more than a lyric; it's the song's heartbeat. 39th Gate Of Hell welcomes us into their tribe of "weird people," in a world where each flaw, every mania, and the whole fragile truth is not only embraced but celebrated.
The band writes that it was "inspired by being 100% racked at parties and struggling with the split personality of keeping it 'normal' or crossing every line." And that tension is right there on the track, you can practically hear it pulsate between restraint and release, sanity and chaos, the polished smile and the primal scream. Turn this one up with friends, perhaps over a drink, and let "Love Hearts" remind you that rock and roll is about more than rebellion; it's about finding your people inside the noise.
