What. A. Band. Since their first release in 2004, Danes ANUBIS GATE have experienced a number of line-up and management changes, culminating in their bassist, Henrik Fevre, taking over vocal duties from the esteemed Jacob Hansen, who is still the band's producer, as well as maintaining his position as bassist. Following their debut Fevre era' release, the self-titled, the band has also replaced ex-guitarist with Michael Bodin and ex-drummer, Morten Sørensen with Morten Gade Sørensen; this new lineup has culminated in the release of a new EP, preceding their soon-to-be-released 6^th album, "Horizons". A small teaser, it was no doubt consumed with rabid hunger by the ears of their growing number of die-hard fans; like myself, eagerly awaiting their next record. It features an alternate version of a song from their upcoming release, and two covers.

"Destined to Remember" is the snippet, evilly teasing us of their 2014 album, an alternate version of a track to be contained on it. It strongly follows on from the music contained on their 2011 self-titled release, quite similar in fact, in parts, to their first single, "Golden Days". The song alternates between light and airy, and gorgeously progressive passages and groovy, drum-dominated flourishes, overlayed with Fevre's instantly recognisable voice. One thing that myself and others noticed, both on his backing-vocal duties on previous release and his transition to lead vocals, is the uniqueness of his voice. Unlike many Progressive and Power Metal bands, he does not over-use vibrato techniques; in fact, he uses them very little. But when present, they are sung tastefully and with meaning, and work more to complement the guitar work, rather than dominate the song; no disrespect to the Speed Metal bands known for the opposite, of course. This vocal technique that he employs creates a completely different air to the music and, I feel, leaves more room to experiment with sonic emotion, at which he has proven to be an expert.

The two covers found on this album are most apt; and further signify the band's obvious love for Classic Rock and Prog music. The cover of "Sheep", originally by PINK FLOYD, would have been a risky choice for some bands; how does one cover a song by such an immortal act, without avoiding the usually-unavoidably, heinous criticism? Either way, ANUBIS GATE have done the opposite, and done the song justice. Naturally, the track features the addition of more metallic nuances, but the classically-FLOYD progginess is still there. Roger Waters' vocals re-emerge in Fevre in a no-doubt different style, but ultimately just as exquisite, in an ANUBIS GATE-kind of way. In fact, the entire band covers this song perfectly; I say perfect, because it is not a mere replica but like I said, an altered re-emergence. The final song, "Broken Wings", is a cover of 80's AOR band MR. MISTER. Contrasting to the previous cover, the band chose to adhere to a sound closer to that of 80's music, and the metal influences are kept at a somewhat minimum. What this has done is modernise an otherwise 'old' song and breathe into it new life, with the slight addition of over-driven guitars and richer vocals, combined with the classically-80's synth. On this song we hear the ability of the new guitarist, Bodin, to create beautiful and tasteful sounds in a guitar solo, with bouncing and weaving lead licks.

I suppose this is the whole point of an EP, to keep the rabid masses wanting more, and I surely want more; the new material sounds absolutely astounding.