ANUBIS GATE — Sheep (review)

EP · 2013 · Progressive Metal

4.5/5 · 2013-11-15
adg211288

Sheep (2013) is an EP release by Danish progressive metal act Anubis Gate. Sheep is a free digital release consisting of three songs; one original and two covers. Following on from their prior self-titled effort (2011) this is the first Anubis Gate release to feature their revised line-up, which actually contains none of the same members who were officially members of the band for debut release Purification (2004). Although both Kim Olesen (guitars/keyboards) and Henrik Fevre (bass/vocals) performed on that album, they were only ever guests at that stage. With the departures of Jesper M. Jensen (guitars) and Morten Sørensen (drums), Anubis Gate now joins acts such as In Flames and Stratovarious who continue to operate despite their Ship of Theseus status.

In that case it definitely makes sense for Anubis Gate to release a free EP now, although in my mind they have nothing to prove at this stage. Not only have their last two albums, which includes an all time favourite of mine, The Detached (2009), ranked right at the top of their respectively yearly lists for me, but Fevre and Olesen have been the ones running this show on recent releases for the most part, despite continued writing contributions from both Jensen and former lead vocalist Jacob Hansen, and I have faith in those two to keep Anubis Gate the special act they've become. Of the two new guys in the band, guitarist Michael Bodin and drummer Morten Gade Sørensen I'm only familiar with the work of the latter (an impressive CV which includes Pyramaze, Wuthering Heights and Lance King) and am unsure at this stage how much import either with have on the band's upcoming album Horizons (2014), but based on the original song presented on this EP, Destined To Remember, I'm confident that the Anubis Gate sound is going to be as strong as ever come the release of Horizons, which will be their sixth album.

The song itself is set to appear on Horizons, but the version given away here is a different version than what will appear on the album. It's a pretty good track that instantly reminds me of the sound of the self-titled album, that of very melodic progressive metal topped with Henrik Fevre's excellent vocals, with some underlying power metal riffs. While it doesn't grab me so much as songs of theirs like Hold Back Tomorrow do, I'm guessing that there is a reason why of the two versions Anubis Gate have revealed exist that one made the album and the other didn't.

The remainder of the EP is two cover songs. One, the title track, is a Pink Floyd cover and is the true highlight of the EP. I personally have never been able to get into Pink Floyd despite their legendary status and influence on much of the music I do listen to, but I do greatly enjoy this cover as Anubis Gate have made it their own, keeping the elements of their own sound in and in truth if I didn't know it was a cover beforehand I'd probably have guessed it was a Anubis Gate original. It fits in that well with what they've been doing on the last couple of albums. The other cover is Broken Wings by Mr. Mister, a new wave/AOR act, making it a more unusual cover for a metal band. It fits Anubis Gate but not as well as the Pink Floyd song.

Sheep is a nice little EP by Anubis Gate made all the better by being a free release. These guys have long earned their place as one of my favourite bands so I would have jumped on this EP even if I hadn't received a promo of it, and as usual they don't disappoint. An exceptional grade rating is deserved and Horizons currently stands as my most anticipated release for 2014. So if, like me, you cannot wait for that album, download Sheep today for a little taster.

87/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/anubis-gate-sheep-t3245.html)