It's a pretty beautiful thing to see someone discover Metal for the first time and go slightly insane from the sudden ecstatic euphoria that accompanies that first listening of a really chunky riff. It is perhaps even more beautiful to see a whole country discover Metal and just go absolutely mental for it. That's what has been happening in India for the last couple of years, and there are now bands emerging that have a following that would have been the stuff of dream for them five years ago. Not only this, but they are kicking the rectum out of their western contemporaries. While we have been getting fat and over saturated with an endless stream of clones all trying to be more brutal than the last, these guys have just entered their honeymoon where everything is still so fresh and the possibilities are virtually endless. It makes me think a little of France over the last decade, repeatedly churning out bands that just shat all over the up and comers from the UK and USA.

WINTER Gate is a relatively new band from Delhi that is just starting to reach an international audience with their debut E.P., "Dis-Illumination". The fairly short three-track offering does all it needs to within its limited amount of run time. Opening with an enchanting piano melody that is very reminiscent of OPETH, it lulls you into a false sense of security before kicking into the second song with a tone and ferocity that easily rivals any of the big names in Metal. Devishish's vocals are nigh on demonic and the guitar work is superb. Riffs that tear their way out of the stereo melt past your face like butter and blend seamlessly into each other. I'm not going to pontificate for too long on the actual structure and style of the music, as there are only three songs to choose from, and I don't want to spoil it, but sweet Jesus, they are they good.

I for one, am exceptionally excited about the future offerings from India, each of the bands that I have heard so far have been fantastic and I am expecting this trend to carry on for a while longer at least. When I think back to the amount of people that have told me that there is nothing new left in Metal I can't help but smile. Sure, we may have exhausted every avenue of creativity within our spheres of culture and thought but there are probably about 4 billion people out there that haven't been given the chance to put their hand to it, and who knows what the rest of the world has to offer?