Band:	Moi Dix Mois
Album:	Beyond The Gate
Style:	Symphonic gothic metal
Release date:	March 01, 2006
Guest review by:	AntaeusM

01. The Other Side Of Blood
02. Eternally Beyond
03. Deus Ex Machina
04. Vain
05. Deflower
06. Unmoved
07. The Other Side Of The Door
08. Eternally Beyond [instrumental version] [limited edition bonus]
09. Deus Ex Machina [instrumental version] [limited edition bonus]
10. Vain [instrumental version] [limited edition bonus]
11. Deflower [instrumental version] [limited edition bonus]
12. Unmoved [instrumental version] [limited edition bonus]

It feels kind of odd to write a review about Moi Dix Mois on a metal site. I have had many discussions as to the genre of Moi Dix Mois. Can we label them as metal or not? I would say yes and no. No because they fit perfectly in the J-Rock scene. Yes if we speak about the western Metal definitions. As far as European definitions go they are Gothic Metal, but the Japanese (and many fans) would call them J-Rock. Why am I telling this? It's pretty simple, the new album breaks the barrier, they are Metal now.

The first album of the band, "Dix Infernal", set the standard of their new sound and it was easy to hear that Moi Dix Mois continued where Malice Mizer stopped. "Dix Infernal" was an excellent introduction to this band with catchy and dark atmospheric songs. "Nocturnal Opera" followed and was very similar, but we could already hear the first Death Metal influence on "Vizard". In March 2006 Moi Dix Mois released "Beyond the Gate" and I was really excited about this new album. As many people know, Tohru, Kazuno and Juka left the band, the latter being replaced by Seth. I was quite nervous as to know whether this new vocalist could be just as good as Juka, because I believe it couldn't get any better than Juka.

Enough blabbering about the history, let's start reviewing the music. The album starts with "The Other Side of Blood (SE)". "Dix Infernal" and "Nocturnal Opera" started with a typical Symphonic Black Metal intro and "Beyond the Gate" treads the same path. Besides, this intro would also fit in any RPG game: just imagine one of those dungeons in a RPG game. The intro sets the mood for the album. The second song, "Eternally Beyond", starts with a short drum and keyboard intro and then the death vocals of K. step in. This guy really knows how to do good Death vocals. I have listened to this album a lot of times now and I can say that Mana once again found a good vocalist for his band, as Seth is undoubtedly an amazing replacement for Juka.

"Deus ex Machina" is probably the biggest surprise on this album - it is very industrial. I like the experimental side on this album. It shows that Mana is constantly evolving and trying new things. "Vain" is the weakest track on the album, to me this song is nothing more than a filler track. But then the amazing "Deflower" kicks off; this song is pure perfection from the first second to the last. The atmosphere of this song is kind of sad, but that's quite usual for Moi Dix Mois's softer songs. "Unmoved" is the last real song of the album. Again, just listen to the amazing death vocals of K.. The combination of K.'s death vocals and Seth's clean vocals works really well in this song. "The Other Side Of The Door" is the outro of the album, and it is similar to the other Moi Dix Mois outros.

At this point of the review I have really positive feelings about this new album. Are there any negative points? For me, as a fan of both extreme and softer metal genres, there aren't. However, I can imagine that the industrial sound on "Deus ex Machina" or the gothic sound on "Deflower" could turn some metal fans off. Also, it is a step in a new direction. I would not be surprised if Moi Dix Mois's career eventually had to be divided into eras, just as was the case with Malice Mizer. "Dix Infernal" and "Nocturnal Opera" represented the first era with Juka, but "Beyond the Gate" started the new one, the Seth one. Of course, this is pure speculation but it wouldn't surprise me at all.

All in all, I can recommend this album to open-minded people, I repeat, open-minded metalheads. Also, people who are obsessed in one way or another with Japan should try this band. Don't expect a pure gothic metal album, since the band (just as on the other albums) have a background in Visual Kei and J-Rock music.