Website
Facebook
Twitter
Nightmare Records
by Craig Hartranft, 02.04.2014
Denmark's Anubis Gate returns with their sixth album, Horizons, and more changes in personnel. New guitarist Michael Bodin (Third Eye) replaces Jesper M Jensen, and Morten Gade Sørensen (Pyramaze, Wuthering Heights) has replaced Morten Sørensen. You read that right, same first and last name, but a different person.
What hasn't changed is Anubis Gate's approach to progressive power metal. This is dense and heavy music with layers of thick riffage, sometimes thrashy, uneven time signatures, yet still wrapped up in melody. Thanks to this approach the progressive nature of their metal is nearly disguised by their wall of sound. A good example comes with Revolution Come Undone, a speedy and chunky number that moves with an underlying groove (something common in many songs here). Then there's Breach of Faith which, like other songs has dense riffage, but turns more on a singular guitar lead, and just a touch of piano. It's one of the best songs here.
Returning to that idea of groove, both Never Like This (A Dream) and Hear My Call inject some hard rock groove in the song's current. Yet, that latter song, can mix things up and keep you guessing; it may be the most prog thing here, and again one the best songs. What would a prog act by without some lengthy epic song. You get that with A Dream Within A Dream which, by way of it's arrangement, is probably the most subdued song of the bunch. That wall of riffage has been reduced in thickness, and the bottom end is toned down, at least in the first half. Things turn differently the rest of the way. Much like Breach of Faith, however, the guitar trades leading the song with the bass and vocals. There's a small taste of the new Anubis Gate album. Suffice to say that, like past albums, there's much to take in, whether in it's parts or as a whole. Horizons is strong effort from this band. Recommended.
Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.
Horizons finds Anubis Gate in fine form once more, powering their way through progressive metal with a wall of riffage, and dense compositions.
By far, Sweden's Eclipse is one of my favorite bands. Always consistent and always entertaining, Eclipse has been delivering their 21st century version of melodic metal rock since songwriter, producer ... [ Read More ]