THE GATE

Good album, characterized by too many derivative parts, in the vein of bands such as The Enid and Renaissance. Nevertheless you can get an inkling of their talent, regarding of the lush symphonic excursions at the keyboards (forget only the vocals in Japanese , which is the main defect of the whole production and get on my nerves).

Very interesting but not essential!!

The secret to the artistic success of "The Gate" is in its deft merging of the bombast and the melodically simple, the whine and the croon, the tender passage and the hard rocking segment. As such, vocalist Megumi Tokuhisa is simply yet another vehicle for the band's aims, and she acquits herself wondrously for the most part.

"The Gate Of 21st Century" is an opening overture for what is to come. "Eternal Sinner" is one of the best cuts, boasting all the elements that the band synthesizes over the course of the album - a chorus with an irresistible hook, duelling synthesizers and lead guitar to imaginative beats, and some potent riffing on rhythm guitar, even some styles that sound more middle eastern than far eastern, but it's all good. It is separated from the infectious rocker "Wish", which could have you out on the dance floor, by the stately instrumental "Unknown Lives", featuring flute-type sounds as well as acoustic guitar, underscoring the band's versatility and unwillingness to stick to a simplistic formula.

Another favourite is "End of the Millenium", appropriate for the year of release, 1999. Several fine tunes are rolled into its 7 minutes. Teru's Symphonia knows how to cultivate the hook and, guilty pleasure or not, the accent is on pleasure. Nothing groundbreaking here, but it is also not to be trivialized.

While not everything here is strong, this is a good place to start your Japanese symphonic prog collection. Open the gate and enter the land of Teru's Symphonia.

This is a typical symphonic prog. japanese band.Very based in the british symph.rock(Genesis mainly)

Very symphonic,with the keyboards dominating.

This band as other Japanese ones have the advantage of the best electronic instruments to display.

As other jap.bands the vocals are awful.

May it is a little poppy sometimes.

Not as good as Wapa Gapa or Symphonia Della Luna.

2.7 stars.

Gosh.

This album kicks in all direction. From metal riffs from the guitarists to neo-prog riffs by the keyboard player to ambient film-music and new-age parts. Inbetween, there are some bombastic symphonic rock parts well over the top. The shrieking vocals too is a bit if a torture. This is the Japanese way of prog rock vocals so I should really not complain. I would call it unusual and an aquired taste. When the vocals are mediative, they are great though. The vocalist is quite good actually.......

..... The music is not. I find it over the top in all directions. Too bombastic and without much substance. The melodies and the ideas is simply not good enough. There are a few good parts here, but they are far between. The music is also pretty close to pomp pop several places with overblown sound. The result is a confusing and pretty tiring album. And that is what I feel after ten listenings to this album. Tired. Sorry !

2 stars