I suppose the years have turned me into quite the Anubis Gate ambassador. 2007’s Andromeda Unchained first grabbed me on a whim purchase based simply on its enticing cover artwork, the toppling one-two punch of “Yiri” and “Lost in Myself” from 2009’s excellent The Detached solidified the fascination, and the band’s 2011 self-titled record pushed the allure to new heights and ended up securing a spot in my top-ten list from that year.
But somehow I always end up feeling as if I’m preaching to a fairly thin congregation, mostly stemming from the fact that progressive metal remains a tough sale in a lot of American markets. The fans who love it are steadfast, mind you, but many of the U.S.-based media outlets covering metal — the major ones, anyway — continue to treat prog metal with the same amount of indifference as they do power metal. (What’s with the “P” hate, you prickly, pretentious peckerwoods?) Thusly, bands trekking this oft-shunned terrain mostly rely on loads of self-promotion, label bumps, and word-of-mouth to help push new material.
Even tougher for Anubis Gate – these dudes actually have two mountains to climb with regard to the typical US metaller: they’re progressive metal, and they’re unafraid to employ surprisingly light pop sensibilities.
Who’s still here? You still here? I think I can still hear a couple muffled coughs out in those pews.
“Pop infusions” are apparently okay here in the grumpy ol’ U.S., as long as those immersions are culled from some sort of shoegaze/dream pop angle. But these Danes mostly draw from an easybreezy pool that cranked out radio earworms years prior to the Slowdives and Lushes of yore.
As difficult as it is for me to (admit/)type this next sentence, you’re all the more likely to go apeshit for Anubis Gate if you’re not immediately repelled by the notion of listening to progressive metal penned by dudes who probably spent at least part of the 80s listening to Tears for Fears and Howard Jones tunes. Need further proof? It ain’t often you come across a metal band willing to drop a compelling cover of a bloody Mr. Mister tune – something Anubis Gate dropped to the table via last year’s incredibly free Sheep EP.
But before all you anti-fun soreheads start Roman-showering the screen from an over-tickled gag reflex, understand that Anubis Gate are mostly in the game of delivering heavy metal, and Horizons, album number six, is certainly no different.
Those who came into the fold through the 2011 self-titled release will be pleased to discover a very similar course preserved here, the primary difference being that this year’s go-around achieves a healthy portion of its beauty from an inclusion of acoustic strumming and a fair share of perfectly-balanced piano, giving the corners a shade of Pink Floyd. (Perhaps also presaged by the Sheep EP’s inclusion of Floyd’s “Sheep.”) “Airways” flexes this design beautifully – particularly during the pretty interlude that hits around 4:50 – but “A Dream Within a Dream” takes it to the next level by expanding the melody first dropped by “Never Like This (A Dream)” to a beautifully dark, stretched 14-minute zenith.
The rest of Horizons‘ fare delivers all the exquisite details fans of Anubis Gate have come to expect: ABSURDLY infectious vocal hooks (especially “Destined to Remember,” “Breach of Faith,” and “Mindlessness”); absorbing knottiness that thankfully avoids pushing the mood into anything overly discombobulating; and a perfect balance between sci-fi-tinged keyboard atmospherics and loads of beautifully melodic guitar work that’s never unnecessarily noodly.
I realize the notion of a band producing progressive metal with pop sensibilities continues to defy what a significant portion of Stateside readers, writers and consumers apparently have their sites fixed on in 2014, but Horizons is much more than just, say, Dream Theater under attack by Songs From the Big Chair. Anubis Gate has spent the better part of the last decade honing a style that’s truly unique to them, and the end result is yet another release crammed to the rafters with stellar progressive metal that feels damn good bouncing around in your ears.
