Band:	VII Gates
Album:	The Madman Inside
Style:	Heavy metal, Progressive power metal
Release date:	2002

01. The Saviour
02. Love Bullet
03. So far Away
04. Tormented
05. Like A Rock
06. The Madman Inside

I love reviewing demos and self-released CD's, is a hard job because most of the time you get promos from bands that? uh? suck, but you also have the pleasure to discover new and original bands that break the parameters in Heavy Metal, and who knows, you're maybe reviewing the demo of the next big name in Metal!

So, as you have guessed this a Demo CD, third one form these 6 Swedes, and is truly a surprise, I hate to use the phrase "a breath of fresh air in the genre" but these guys are! Combining different elements with classic Heavy Metal, VII Gates show us that you can play good stuff without recurring to the most used technique of most of the newcomers : copycatting.

From the opener track you're up to a roller coaster of melodies, 'The Saviour', an excellent up tempo song, with a catchy chorus and? an accordion! I love when bands use accordion and all sorts of "non-metal" instruments in their compositions [the only bands I've heard that use accordion are Dark Lunacy and Moonlyght], anyway, the accordion fits perfect in the song, and gives to the composition a very unique personality.

'So Far Away' is another great track, a beautiful ballad, and again, very catchy, the singer, Christer Elmgren does an excellent job, and so does the two guitarists, in general, the musicianship in this Demo is top-notch!

So the Demo goes on and two more great tracks are up 'Tormented' [great song!] and 'Like A Rock' but all this songs are just a prelude to the title track 'The Madman Inside', a 7 minute epic track, and by far the best song in the Demo, this track has it all, tempo changes, beautiful melodies and great atmosphere, if you want to know what VII Gates is all about, listen this song, and you can thank me later.

One of the most impressive Demos I've ever reviewed, and is also very well produced, the only thing that let me down was the cover art, that is kinda poor [it looks like something I would draw in a very boring class at college], but the music is great, a must-have for all Heavy Metal fans!