ANUBIS GATE

The previous Anubis Gate album I'd heard before this one was Andromeda Unchained, and whilst they don't fail to grab my attention on this self-titled album they don't seem to show a substantial development of their sound. It's solid progressive metal with a sound that's based around the Dream Theater model but which incorporates enough classic metal influences to appeal to power metal listeners as well. It's all rather pleasant, but I don't think it's the quantum leap above their previous work that's really called for when you decide to release an eponymous album this late in your career, and I don't think it quite approaches the prog metal top tier in any event.