If I am not mistaken the only release from Kolony Records I had the chance to listen to was FIGHTCAST's latest album Breeding A Divinity, a pretty solid melodic Death Metal/Metalcore release. Now, it is my second encounter with the Italian label and I hope it is as good as my first one. THE COLD EXISTENCE have a difficult mission.

Even though I thought I would have to face one more Italian band, THE COLD EXISTENCE comes from Gothenburg, Sweden, with the band dragging its country's Metal tradition with them. I hadn't heard anything about them, but as it seems these guys have already released two demos, one EP and one full-length record before signing their contract with Kolony. With the help of the Italian label, the Swedish quartet unleashes its sophomore effort.

First of all I would like to note that THE COLD EXISTENCE are now a quintet since LORD BELIAL's guitarist Thomas Backelin has joined the band's ranks. Now, straight to the point. These guys are really into their country's Metal tradition, since the tracks contained in Sombre Gates are classic Swedish Thrash/Death Metal sound. The good thing about THE COLD EXISTENCE is that they concentrate more on brutality rather than melody and have some good relentless moments here and there. The fact is that in the specific kind of music you need extra strong riffing, a sector that has some weaknesses here. You will find many strong HYPOCRISY and THE CROWN influences in here, something fortunate since we have been swamped with IN FLAMES and SOILWORK clones.

With Andy La Roque's tremendous job on the mastering, the album has been covered with a dead heavy sound. These guys have definitely something good going on, and may I add rather different from what most of the NWOSDM bands are doing, but they just need to do some extra work on the guitars. Some catchier riffs and some killer leads (something that is missing) would elevate the band's sound much higher.