Hello Metal-Temple, after an absence of 3 years, the band ANUBIS GATE is back with their 7^th full length album and it is a massive one. The band that formed in 2001 have been working their way into the mind and heart of Progressive Metal fans for almost 2 decades now, and yet they were able to impress me deeply with this release.

We open on "Psychotopia" with some massive dark tone riffs, and a discordant psychedelic keyboard track. This opener might seem odd for the Danish band, but the contrast of sound really has a lot of charm. The whole is played masterfully by the musicians. This is a great way to get into the blackness of this album.

The band is embracing the new sound they have been working on in the last few albums. Which is apparent throughout the album, but in "The New Delhi Assassination" they went a different way. This piece merges Oriental sound with the bands progressive outburst to give us a foreign sound that is sweet to the ears. Although it doesn't really fit the portrait of "Covered in Black", it does hit to mark in terms of melody and emotions.

"The Combat" is the first official video released from this album and it does do justice to the band. With a length of almost 6 minutes, the piece shows the whole range of melodic prowess the band is capable of. The progression is clear as the story develops in our open ears.

The pinnacle of "Covered in Black" is the opus in three parts called "Black", "Blacker" and "Blackest". With a condensed time of over 10 minutes, the music goes through a lot of phases, from a medium pace with low tone riffs, to a slow pace epic guitar solo and back to a medium pace vocal heavy part in the last 2 minutes. This is the most intelligently crafted Progressive part of the album.

To finish the album in beauty, the band offers us "From Afar". A piece masterfully played, featuring inventive riffs and harmonious vocals. With some influence from the later period of PINK FLOYD, it will give you goose bumps.

ANUBIS GATE has found their way and can only go up from here. With its 56 minute running time, this album will be on the top of the chart for a lot of Progressive fans for this year. I don't see it gathering to much dust in the following months, at least not around here. Definitely a must if you are craving the genre.