Review Summary: Shifting and remembering.
With or against the grain, Anubis Gate’s music style is set in stone, and it pleases the metal gods and is creative. So creative, in fact, that certain fans of the latest Avenged Sevenfold may just shit their pants when they hear some truly - actually for real this time - original, progressive songwriting. Heavy riffs galore, truly ambient seawater to sit back/relax, and zany synths? Just a couple things to look forward to from this continuously excelling prog metal titan.
Extra details emerge whence ears are fully submerged in the prog metal bath. You might not get it firstly, due to information overload. That’s not to say that the listen is uncomfortably claustrophobic, it’s actually the opposite. The sounds are relaxingly cool themselves and super sexy, though the songwriting brings constant change in a smoothed out fashion. The production, of course, greatly assists the floaty sound, but the songwriting immeasurably so. Each passage unfolds with mastery, and lovely tile work.
If you know this band you’ll know this album before you listen to it. Long, drawn out, spacey sections are here — operation normal. Those sectioned steam rooms convalesce with vocal harmonies beautifully. Before you know it thunderous riffs and percussion appear to remind the listener it’s a metal album. The ambient, melodic metal on offer (in addition with the motifs mentioned) is rather similar to their self-titled release. A fantastic return to form, indeed.
Anubis Gate are still doing their own thing. They will never be a djent band, or fall to the latest trends (so it seems). They know their sound and stick with it. It may mean some oddball melodies, or completely unexpected sections, and that’s entertaining. The lengthy, dripping, opening section for Ignorance is Bliss chills me every time. One last point: the songs are long, yet fun. Interference is prog metal done right, and it deserves its spot under the 2023 spotlight. Stop jamming what society wants you to jam for a second, and plug yourself into something that will become a part of you — allow Interference.
