ANUBIS GATE is a 4-Piece Progressive/Power Metal band from Aalborg, Denmark. They have been active since 2001 and this is an album full of covers. This follows ''Covered in Black'' that came out in 2017 but that was original material. They are a very productive band with 7 full-length albums in 19 years and they released a Box Set called ''Orbits'' back in September 2016. They are extremely well regarded with their lyrical content about the purity of the body and mind and psychological cleansing. They definitely have their own way to write their lyrics and they distance themselves from most bands (and usual lyrical themes) in the genre.

14 songs is no small task to be honest. They covered so many different genres and artists, it's a hodge-podge of musical history no less. I have to admit that a number of bands they covered I really don't know at all including UNDER BYEN, VISAGE, MIKE STERN and JAPAN. For people that don't know these were artists in the New Romantic/Synthpop genre mostly in Great Britain. I am not aware of much of this scene but I know a few bands to give me a general idea of their sound and I have to admit, for a Power/Progressive Metal band, they did right on those covers and were true to the originals. Those were the big surprises on this covers albums and does give me an excuse to listen to those often disregarded 70's and 80's bands.

You have to know what you are doing when you go covers, not all covers albums are good (like the SIX FEET UNDER ones whom are horrible at best) and they covered a lot of established artists yet they covered songs that were lesser known to an extent (except AC/DC, OZZY and SLAYER). From VOIVOD to COLDPLAY to STEELY DAN, you have a wide variety of genres and musical genius. They don't shy away from doing covers of more Pop-oriented bands and they still stay true to their genre of choice. They seem to be experimenting more of less on some covers, the ''Strawberry Fields Forever'' is a banger to say the least, even if it's of one of THE BEATLES more accessible songs, ANUBIS GATE knocked it out of the park on this one and they went very raw on this cover, making it their own no less.

As for ''Red'', well they made this song a bit more Power Metal than the Progressive Rock original version. It's not easy to cover KING CRIMSON, the music is so complex and chaotic and it's a pretty daunting task. I have heard countless covers of the Progressive Rock gods and most weren't up to snuff except BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME when they covered ''Three of a Perfect Pair'' on their covers albums a number of years ago. ANUBIS GATE really nailed this one as well. I can say the same thing for the GENESIS cover, though I would say it was adequate, it's not the most known GENESIS song and it kinda fell flat honestly and they could have shone on another track that was more well known but yet I respect the risk of choosing an unknown song to most people out there.

I would have left out the SLAYER, VOIVOD and AC/DC covers honestly, they just didn't do it for me and they were quite a departure of anything else covered on this album nonetheless. As much as they are pretty well known tracks I was kinda bored because they have been so overplayed throughout the last 30 years or so. I love SLAYER and a big AC/DC fan but not really a VOIVOD fan honestly. I just felt they didn't do justice to the originals and without these covers, I think the album would have been ways better and adding these were seem to be like afterthoughts.

They have a lot of balls and it's a risky bet to cover so many styles at once and they will have my everlasting respect for trying to do something unconventional at best. They went against the wind and tried something different, some covers were on point, some were disappointing but they gave it all and covered artists they really like and it shows their passion for their work and music in general. Before anything else, you are a fan of music before being a musician and you are like a sponge to any genre. You discover yourself throughout music, artists and genres and ANUBIS GATE strayed true to their roots and they pushed one's limits as musicians.