Germany's EMERGENCY GATE have been active since 1996, and through the years developed a style that seems to cross the Melodic Death Metal of their native Europe with a lot of Metal-Core acts that have made a name for themselves from North America. Now onto album six, I'm hopeful that "Infected" will show marked improvement over last year's "You" - where the breakdowns and tough attitude antics took precedence over creative, constructive songs.

The sextet have a way of intertwining keyboards that seem to be prevalent in groups such as AMARANTHE or ENGEL over the natural jackhammer electric guitar approach - creating right out of the blocks a memorable opener in "Sons of the Second". Matthias has the dual 'good cop/ bad cop' vocal delivery down pat - ripping up his larynx during the verses of "Going Under" or the BEYOND THE EMBRACE -like "Crushing Down" (the latter featuring some killer speed picking and high pitch dual harmonies from Vlad and Udo) but knowing when to hit that SOILWORK acceptable clean chorus as well.

And then we have a song like "We Wanna Party" that has an ANDREW W.K. vibe in terms of lyrics, and more Mall-Core in the breakdowns and rap-styled gang vocals than necessary - sinking EMERGENCY GATE more into the low common denominator mold that maybe mainstream or casual Crossover Metal fans get but not Melodic Death Metal fans. The good riffs and hooks outweigh the bad for me: highlights include the aggressive "Pathetic Me" and ridiculously catchy "Your Last Smile" that effectively uses guitars and keyboards in sort of a point / counterpoint manner.

I still believe "Infected" will appeal more to the younger generation than the old Melodic Death Metal guard. As long as EMERGENCY GATE continues to experiment and not chase the commercial brass ring, I'm willing to give them the benefit of doubt.