Rockfreaks.net

Anubis Gate

Horizons

Written by: BW on 27/04/2014 20:48:46

It has been ten years since Anubis Gate released their first studio album, “Purification”. A decade on and after the occasional member change and a new record label, we get “Horizons”. With the reputation of the Danish band well established, does this new album provide fans with another good body of work?

To be honest, initial signs look promising. The first track “Destined To Remember” gives me everything that a modern prog rock song should have, with some nice vocal work and a tidy musical effort, along with some powerfully subtle key changes, as well as that lovely feeling of electronic noise wafting at you. Everything feels tidy and very solid from this first sample.

“Never Like This” is a little more subdued compared to the start of the album; in that it does take a good two minutes or so for things to get beyond that almost generic feel of basic song type and it does sort of mix it up a little towards the end. If I’m honest it feels like it should be getting more exciting a bit faster than it does, but perhaps I’m being too harsh.

“Hear My Call” does things a little better by adding some high vocals and some nice drum fills to add a bit of depth, not to mention a decent choice of key in the bridge to keep a grip on your interest. This happily extends throughout the track and gives me those nice little changes of time signature which are a staple part of any nutritious prog rock breakfast. I do also enjoy the addition of an acoustic guitar before the main melody gets reintroduced.

I think my choice for the most deceptive track has to be “Airways” as you think you’re going to get this slow number for the entirety, but suddenly and without warning the track just explodes into a drum infested, riff filled tower of music. It certainly sounds right and it leaves just enough acoustic in the background to keep its roots embedded. Definitely one of the better songs on the album.

With every album of this style comes a song that doesn’t hit the heights of the others. Heck, even Dream Theater are known for it. “Revolution Come Undone” really doesn’t do it for me as the other songs do. There is just too much in the line of monotony and not enough unique stuff happening in the track to keep the interest going, sadly. “Breach of Faith” gets back to it though with a piano intro making way for a good punchy song. Again it sounds kind of standard, but gets more intricate halfway through and allows for some nice touches in the latter half, including some good guitar work.

As far as the rest of the album goes, it is a very solid affair. “A Dream Within A Dream” is the pinnacle of it all, running at under fifteen minutes and throwing every different style and thought process at you. If you are a prog fan you will have every box ticked and feel that you can enjoy it. “Erasure” is very different also, and is very much a point of mention. Another that starts off slow and emotional and this is built on once the drums kick in, only for it to nicely go back to the standalone acoustic guitar to finish. A nicely thought out song, like most of them on this album.

So, apart from the one slightly boring track, Anubis Gate have given us a really good effort in “Horizons” and it certainly does what you’d expect it to do. A few more long running songs here and there and some more time signature changes would not go amiss, but other than that I’d say it is an album I could happily listen to again. A good testament to this is that it came out over a week ago and I got caught up in it that much I lost track of time. Can’t say better than that, can you?

Download: A Dream Within A Dream, Hear My Call, Purifications, Erasure
For The Fans Of: Dream Theater, Thought Factory, Opeth, Symphony X
Listen: facebook.com

Release date 15.04.2014
Nightmare Records