Gates of Winter offer a very melodic display of metal on their release Lux Aeterna, and they seem to have the recipe to pull everything off. The music is interesting in that it borrows some ideas from power metal, yet has a grittier core than much of what you’d find in that genre. The songs are quite accessible and it’s easy enough to get attached to them. Cap things off with a vocalist that at times sounds similar to Mike Patton and you have yourself a pretty good disc overall.
The band could be considered just a pure heavy metal band, but they seem to have a little more to their sound than just that. Their special blend of different genres gives the group a distinctive enough sound and territory which they manage quite well. The tune “A Dark Afflication” has some of the disc’s catchiest moments and promises to be one of the stronger tracks. The rest of the album has a reasonable consistency of quality, however, and does not wan much at all.
One just can’t help but wish there was a bit more of an impact to the music; it seems as though the band is holding back just a little. It doesn’t quite carry the epic flavour of some power metal, thus doesn’t stand out quite as much as one might hope. This is but a small downside to Gates of Winter, however, and the group and album overall boast talent and awesomeness. Lux Aeterna has enough solid music and song-writing to make it a worthy purchase. Check it out if you’re interested in straightforward heavy metal music. [ END ]
Track Listing:
01. Life Force Rapture
02. Burning Kingdom I – A Dark Affliction
03. Burning Kingdom II – Heavenly Insurgence
04. Burning Kingdom III – Lux Aeterna
05. The Wildwood Pariah
06. Winter Flight
07. Gates of Winter
08. From the Flesh
09. Omega
Run Time: 55:42
Release Date: 01.22.2008
