Recently, there have been a cache of bands that have been turning back to the early days of Heavy Metal and Hard Rock in order to move the genre forward. The Occult Rock/Heavy Metal revival of the last four or five years has seen bands like GHOST, PURSON and BLOOD CEREMONY being catapulted into the forefront of the Metal world. MAUSOLEUM GATE are a band that definitely fit quite soundly into this category, and continue in the traditions that were set down by the likes of BLACK SABBATH over Forty years ago. Five years after their inception, they have finally released their first, self-titled debut album, which is likely to cause a stir among fans of Metal in its oldest and purest form.

The song which opens this album, "Magic of the Gypsy Queen", is built, initially, on a brilliant Hammond Organ style keys section, building some great anticipation for what is to come. And when the track begins, it meets all expectations. The song overall, in particular the Guitars and Vocals, have a strong IRON MAIDEN influence to them, but with a traditional Metal twist. It does what some of BLACK SABBATH's best work did lyrically; it tells an actual story, and builds an atmosphere which suits the story being told. This is the way all Heavy Metal or even Doom Metal albums should begin. "Demon Droid" is more or less a straight up Heavy Metal track; it's reminiscent of the 80's heyday of Heavy Metal, complete with great twin guitar lines and imaginative solos.  Perhaps the best song on this whole album is "Lost Beyond the Sun", a song which starts off very basic, and builds up slowly into this great, multi-layered, nine minute Doom-laden crescendo. In this song, V- P Varpula's vocals take on an almost DIO-esque quality.

Songs like "Mercenaries of Steel" have this same strong Dio influence, at least vocally. After one more Heavy Metal tune, "There Must Be Demons", the album reaches its final, and longest song, a self titled track.  Like the song which opens the album, it slowly builds into a masterpiece, beginning almost as a Heavy Metal ballad and becoming a full on slab of IRON MAIDEN worship. This song could well prove to be this band's very own version of "Fear of the Dark" and I could see this being a fan favourite in the future. There isn't much that can be said of this band that is negative; it's a very good album.

This album is a great introduction to a great band. I would definitely recommend this album to anyone who likes old school Heavy Metal, or has been following the rise of many new Occult Rock bands that have been forming in the last few years. There is an aura on this album that completely suits the music down to the ground. It's firmly rooted in Metal's past, and hopefully it will be a part of Metal's future as well.