ANUBIS GATE

During these early years of the band's existence ANUBIS GATE created its own style of progressively infused power metal with nods to the classic 1980s heavy metal style. Given the style the band would become known for, PURIFICATION is somewhat of the odd album out of the band's discography. The ten tracks on board feature a bizarre mix of heavy metal, power metal, progressive rock and even a bit of doom metal. The noticeable difference is that on PURIFICATION there are more slow plodding moments which is usually not the case in anything remotely considered power metal. At this point the power part of the equation was quite tamped down and the compositions were darker with less energetic outbursts. The keyboards are less pronounced than later works serving only as an atmospheric enhancer for the most part.

On this debut it's obvious that ANUBIS GATE was following in the footsteps of the pioneers of progressively minded heavy metal bands like Queensryche, Savage, Crimson Glory and even aspects of Iron Maiden for that matter however the band's first vocalist Torbin Askholm probably sounds most similar to Psychotiz Waltz' Buddy Lackey. The musical compositions though while sharing a lineage with the aforementioned bands was successful at sounding distinct even as far back as this debut release however the first two ANUBIS GATE albums are often overlooked in favor of the albums with Hansen on vocals which also found the band upping its game in terms of creativity and songwriting skills.

Personally i find this one a difficult one to swallow. On paper everything is executed as planned with excellent instrumental workouts, brilliant vocals with a wide range and subject matter that is the cream of the crop for a progressive metal band in the 21st century. What's missing from this debut are memorable compositions that really sink in. The creative mojo wasn't firing on all pistons quite yet and the weakness of the album is that the tracks pretty much all sound too similar without enough distinct personality to bring them to life. With power metal it's pretty much mandatory to craft super catchy hooks but the ones provided on PURIFICATION just seem a bit lackluster which sound even worse given the top notch performances.

Of course every band can't hit a home run first time out of the GATE, even the ones guarded by ANUBIS but it wouldn't have taken too much tweaking of the songwriting to make these tracks stand out more. Overall this is indeed a decent album but it seems to lack the most vital elements that make a progressive power metal band really stand out amongst the competition and unfortunately the album offers very little in return visits. Luckily ANUBIS GATE would soon reinvent themselves with a new singer and become one of Denmark's most famous metal exports but as far as this debut is concerned, they hadn't quite gotten there yet.

How many bands, including progressive metal bands, would choose to cover Mister Mister's "Broken Wings"? It's a song I've always liked. Anubis Gate does what a band should do when they're making a cover version. They change the songs enough to make them an interesting alternative to the originals. I'm not going to discuss the musicians here; I'll just say that they're talented gentlemen who know what they're doing. Musically, my favorite part of this EP is Henrik Fevre's voice. He has a terrific tenor voice. Over all, this is an excellent CD, and a good introduction to the band.

The cover of "Hoizons" is subtle and mediates other thoughts than metal albums use to do. The line up is Michel Bodin on guitar, Kim Olesen on guitars, Morten Gade Sörensen on drums and Henrik Fevres who sings. Without having a bassist or a keyboardist they immediately become an odd bird in the prog fauna. My preconception of prog metal is that it should be a very heavy music but I don't really think you could say that about this album. The typical metal attributes are there of course such as the fast beating drums and the music is totally guitar driven. Though must I say that it is something more delicate over this after all. The lucid vocals and the moments of acoustic music bring you happy. The music contains a lot of stuff I have harder to acquire too. When the singer sonds like the singer of Dream Theater in the rougher parts or when the band gives me the feeling of alternative rock/indie rock which happens from one time and another. As a whole though must I say this is a pleasant album, I especially think you would think that if you are a fan of the subgenre.

My favourite song is "Breach of Faith" which contains a Mozart melody and is particularily nice(7/10). The long story of "A dream within a dream" would I recommend too(6/10) as well as "Airways"(6/10), "Destined to remember"(6/10), "Hear my call"(6/10) and "Horizons"(6/10). My song to song rating gives an average of 2.8 stars which will make the whole a three star rating. Had I been a metal fan would there perhaps have been one more.

The band touch on some great melodic heights and have some beautiful ear candy that helps keep the album fresh compared to their corollaries with some lush acoustic sections that remain fresh at all times.

The production team of Kim Olesen and Jacob Hansen is strong and commanding with a reasonable amount of dynamics. I initially became aware of their work on label leader Lance King's 2011 'A Moment in Chiros'. I was thoroughly impressed and the depth of the soundstage and the ethereal layers which are omnipresent on this album, although unfortunately not as well executed.

The band's performances shine on all tracks with a particular highlight to the intriguing keyboard layers. I do feel as though I want to like the sound more than I do as I feel especially vocalist/bassist Henrik Fevre's vocal is honest and competent but something about it just does not grab me which is confronting as I feel much of the instrumentation grabs me in a visceral way in many moments scattered across the album but it's few and far between that I feel the whole band explodes with groundshaking importance in a way that I always look for in releases. It's actually hard for me to believe the difference it makes when Henrik is singing softer sections as opposed to the more traditional metal vocals. He is really on the money and we definitely hear that in the 14 minute monster 'Dream Within a Dream' and the closing track which shows a vulnerable and tender side and is both a puzzling and satisfying closure to the album.

Progressive Music in general has many a promising release scheduled for this year and 'Horizons' is no exception to the mega-hyped anticipation that many prospering bands have been seeing such as Opeth and Teramaze. In some ways perhaps the hype had artificially raised my expectations of the release, and I have to admit I have not been the greatest follower of Anubis Gate's previous output with the exception of 'Andromeda Unchained' which I actually found to be a shining star of quality in the band's back catalogue. Horizons has caught my attention and changed some of my disposition towards the band, however I have to admit - I have not been fully captured. Whilst I see what many others are seeing in the band, the release does not connect me on the emotional level that I need to be completely transported to another dimension and height of auditory pleasure. A solid effort with some moments of greatness and some that don't quite hit the mark for me. 7.5/10.