Band:	Narnia
Album:	Enter The Gate
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	2006

01. Into This Game
02. People Of The Bloodred Cross
03. Another World
04. Show All The World
05. Enter The Gate
06. Take Me Home
07. This Is My Life
08. Aiming Higher
09. The Man From Nazareth
10. Hymn To The North [Japanese bonus]

Narnia: to the majority, a treasured series of fantasy novels in which four children find a lion in a wardrobe and, surprisingly, everything turns out all right; to a select few, the most famous of many projects fronted by charismatic Swedish singer Christian "the Christian" (yes, he really has referred to himself like that) Liljegren (formerly Rivel). Enter The Gate is arguably the high point of Narnia's, and maybe even Liljegren's, career, presenting well-rounded power metal of the twinklier variety without going over the top.

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that neoclassical metal tends to get on my nerves with its excessive soloing that often lasts longer than the average attention span. Despite being labelled as such, you won't find any of that on Enter The Gate - CJ Grimmark is evidently a gifted guitarist, but he and the other musicians know exactly what they should be doing and serve to complement a compelling performance from vocalist Christian Liljegren. Tempos range from "kinda fast" to "ballad", as you'd expect, with some songs displaying a slight progressive bent like the groovy title track, but rest assured, it's all as catchy and memorable as power metal should be. Sadly, some of the longer tracks do drag on a bit, and some sound like filler material, but neither of these can be said for the powerful closer "The Man From Nazareth", one of the better songs on the album. The production isn't really worth talking about - it won't blow your face off, but it's sufficient.

At this point, it would be appropriate to make comparisons to other bands, or even to Narnia's back catalogue. I suppose the most obvious one is Yngwie Malmsteen, but since modest, coherent songwriting takes the reins here, I wouldn't rush to name-drop him; I'd sooner mention Leverage myself. It's more engaging and less laid-back than previous Narnia albums, so if you tried any of those and were somehow put off, Enter The Gate might be a pleasant surprise.

Christian Liljegren and his pals have put together a strong, original power metal offering in Enter The Gate which has been underappreciated, perhaps as a result of their outspoken Christian faith. If you won't give this a chance, at least respect the fact that I wrote a Narnia review without making an Aslan joke at every given opportunity. Besides, the band reformed recently, and I would be lion if I said I weren't excited for a new album, hopefully quite like this one.

Highlights: "People Of The Bloodred Cross", "Enter The Gate", "The Man From Nazareth"