Band:	Anubis Gate
Album:	Interference
Style:	Power metal, Progressive metal
Release date:	June 02, 2023
Guest review by:	24emd

01. Emergence
02. Ignorance Is Bliss
03. Number Stations
04. The Phoenix
05. Equations
06. Dissonance Consonance
07. The Intergalactic Dream Of Stardom
08. World Of Clay
09. Interference
10. Absence


Let’s just all agree to pretend that cover art doesn’t exist, okay?

Anubis Gate are a band I always thought deserved better. Despite a career spanning over twenty years, it seems they’ve only gained traction in a few places, with barely 8,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. With Jacob Hansen handling vocals and production for a short five-year period, they released what many consider their masterpiece – Andromeda Unchained. While I only found a few tracks I loved on that album, I still considered it masterful work. In fact, to this day I consider Anubis Gate some of the best songwriters in the business. Horizons ended up being this band’s masterpiece in my eyes, but since then I’ve not really found much in their discography I considered as good. They are still excellently skilled, and none of their albums are bad, but outside of Horizons, none of it has really compelled me to return.

Enter Interference in 2023. As you’d expect, my expectations were pretty average. I knew there’d be some quality writing on this album, but after what many consider their worst album, a lot of fans were hopeful they could recover.

“Emergence” opens the album with a meaty mid-paced prog riff, a far cry from the double-bass anthem “Waking Hour” from over 15 years ago. “Emergence” continues in this prog fashion, and soon Henrik Fevre’s chilling vocals enter. Then, the chorus arrives, and that’s when the goofy grin returns to my face. All the best choruses should be a burst of energy, and that’s precisely what this sing-a-long moment is. This opening song is basically a statement of exactly what Anubis Gate is about. Their melodic sensibilities are as abundant as ever, the guitar and keyboards interlink in interesting ways, and they consistently play their characteristic style of prog metal.

Throughout the album there are exciting and satisfying moments that remind the listener why Anubis Gate are such great songwriters. “Number Stations” has a very unique atmosphere, and “Dissonance Consonance” opens with a very fitting passage considering its name. In the ‘simplest’ song of the album, “The Phoenix”, Anubis Gate hit us with the most overused chord progression of all time, but what they do with it is jaw-dropping, turning it into melodic prog euphoria. With this song, they remind us of what they did so well on their earlier albums, using simple elements in a thoughtful way.

As I mentioned earlier, all the choruses on this album are great bursts of energy, some having the dominant seventh chord, rarely used in metal. The addition of little chordal changes keeps the choruses exciting and unpredictable.

The album isn’t free of filler. While it is very consistent, its runtime might cause a few songs to feel unnecessary, and some of the false endings may frustrate listeners who are looking for more catchy prog bangers. The album’s consistency might also cause only a few songs to stand out; while “Number Stations” and some others are quite unique in Anubis Gate’s discography, none of the tracks are a clear attempt at a climax or a large dynamic shift.

Over 20 years into their career, Anubis Gate have released another album full of great prog tracks, streamlined with their exciting melodic structures and thoughtful chord choices. Any fan of the band will be pleased to find a few more great tracks to listen to. Interference is Anubis Gate doing what they do best, and they have done it exceptionally well this time.