Anubis Gate | Anubis Gate
by Franco Cerchiari
Staff Writer
As painful as it is to admit, progressive metal bands like Cynthesis, Creation’s End, Hourglass, Myrath and Anubis Gate — until American radio gets its act together — will never be heard to a wider audience. But, be that as it may, as long as Anubis Gate continues to release one standout release after another, fans can be left satisfied.
Anubis Gate’s self titled fifth studio album, and the first since 2009’s The Detached, is a simply superb blend of majestic pomp, progressive metal, guitar hooks, luxuriant keyboards, dazzling melodic vocal harmonies, hammering drums and whipping bass lines. With an easy comparison to Vanden Plas and Darkwater, the tracks flow and the overall sound is simply stunning. From the opening bars sound is everywhere and quickly the ears are filled with one perfect track after the next. So hard not to reach for the volume knob, the listener is lost in a sea of progressive metal that only gets better as the CD goes through its playing time.
Listen to the power guitar chords of the CD’s opener “Hold Back Tomorrow,” the evil, sinful sounding “The Re-Formation Show,” and the CD highlight, building in sound, instruments all adding additional layers culminating with harmonic vocals during the choruses soaring heavenward is “Facing Dawn.”
Keeping the listener transfixed as well are the percussion sounds, as well as the blisteringly fast double bass drums of “World in a Dome,” the guitars of “Golden Days,” and the all-out metal “Desderio Omnibus.” The head nodding “Oh My Precious Life,” with its lyrics talking about wasting time and the foolish decisions of a young man, is a thinking man’s track, where it pays for one to close their eyes and pay attention to the message.
Fooling the listener that here is a ballad, “River,” is soft at first, but the sound and feel escalates in intensity quickly builds as the drums literally pound, until at: 45 seconds, that feeling is shot to all hell, for smacking the crap out of the speakers is a loud, grand, pompous track with a wicked undertone, until midway through, the feel lightens up, and almost in the fashion of prog rock bands of yesteryear (with still the feel of today’s metal), the track closes with synthesizers galore. “River” is perfectly done, with the feelings of the songwriter coming through in droves.
Sadly, “Telltale Eyes,” seemed rushed, but even having said that, it was a track that showcased the talents of the band members.
What makes a great progressive metal CD is when the overall feel of the completed CD grows in strength from the opening bars to the closing track. Anubis Gate does it perfectly here. The heart of the listener begins to swell as the CD starts, and by the time the CD ends, it is all one can do to not feel completely drained by the emotion, sensation and awareness of the music itself. For a lack of better words, the music heard on Anubis Gate is overpowering — it makes one feel lost in the storylines, the lyrics and the sentiment coming through from the music itself. So as the CD comes to close one is left in a whirlwind and it takes a moment or two to wind down. And when that happens, the listener knows for a certainty that what was heard is a collection of music that has totally encapsulated what progressive metal is –- full of sound, emotions and the tracks played to their fullest.
Anubis Gate has come up with one of the best CDs thus far of 2011.
Genre: Progressive Power Metal
Band Members:
Henrik Fevre – vocals, bass
Jesper Jensen – guitars
Kim Olesen – guitars, keyboards
Morten Sorensen – drums
Track Listing:
Hold Back Tomorrow
The Re-Formation Show
Facing Dawn
World in a Dome
Desderio Omnibus
Oh My Precious Life
Golden Days
Telltale Eyes
River
Circumstanced
Label: Nightmare Records
Hardrock Haven rating: 9.5/10