Band:	Abysmal Gates
Album:	Divine Deception
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	2004
A review by:	Marcel Hubregtse

01. Empire Of The Fallen
02. Servant To This Mortal Flesh
03. Devoid Of Light
04. Divine Deception
05. Beneath Thy Crimson Moonlight

A mini album starting off with a monologue by Al Pacino as the devil in Devil's Advocate where he is saying about God: "Let me give you a little inside information about God. God likes to watch. He's a prankster. Think about it. He gives men instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift and then what does he do? I swear, for his own amusement , his own private, cosmic gagery he sets the rules in opposition. It's the goof of all time. Look but don't touch, touch but don't taste, taste but don't swallow. Hahahaha. And while you're jumping from one foot to the next what is he doing? He's laughing his sick fucking ass off. He's a tight-ass, he's a sadist, he's an absentee landlord. Worship that? Never." and which falls right into a great heavy melodic black metal riff can do no wrong in my books.
Five songs of well-executed melodic bordering on symphonic black metal passes in a time-span of 27 minutes. Original? Hell no, but then again when is the last time you heard some original black metal in this subgenre of the black nether regions? I for one can't remember and I don't give a flying fuck when it is executed the way it is here. A clear yet heavy production accentuating all the right parts. Vocals which swoop from grunts to screams and back, some background chanting, samples. This little ditty truly is a divine deception. I can imagine God laughing his ass off while observing me touch, taste, and swallow this way too short piece of music.
Abysmal Gates doesn't sound like the current crop of black metal bands coming out of the US at all. So, don't expect any suicidal, ambient, minimalist, raw black metal. But some fine sounding symphonic melodic black metal instead with some slight touches of old school heavy metal in some guitar parts.