Artist: Emergency Gate
Title: You
Genre: Modern Metal
Release Date: 25th January 2013
Label: ZYX Music/ Goldencore Records
Album Review
EMERGENCY GATE is a modern metal band from Munich, Germany, which has been around since 1996 and nowadays consists of Matthias Kupka (vocals, ex-SUIDAKRA), Vlad Doose (guitar), Udo Simon (guitar), Mario Lochert (bass, ex-VISIONS OF ATLANTIS), Chris “The Machine” Widmann (drums) and Daniel Schmidle (keyboard and synths; also a member of IN LEGEND). Until now, bassist Mario is the only remaining founding member of the band. Even though the band already released their self-titled debut album in 2000, it wasn’t until 2006’s ‘Nightly Ray’ that the guys’ career really started to kick off.
The album was released in different European countries, got rave reviews in the popular metal magazines and also found its way into the rotation of several radio stations. The predecessor, ‘Rewake’, on which their current singer Matthias Kupka made his debut, lead things even further. The band members proved their outstanding live qualities on several renowned festivals and during tours throughout Europe with acts such as KREATOR and CALIBAN. The fourth album ‘The Nemesis Construct’ (featuring a guest performance by EVERGREY singer Tom Englund) then marked the band’s career highlight to date. You is the fifth full-length album of the band and was produced in Mario Lochert’s very own Dreamscape Studios in Munich. It is released via ZYX Music / Goldencore Records.
But now to the new release… Wow. Just wow. Already the opening song of ‘You’ with the memorable title ‘Mindfuck’ (which was also chosen for the first video of the album that you can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBlXKtXVyIA) literally bursts with power and energy, and is a perfect introduction to the band’s sound which can be described as a unique cocktail of brute heaviness, catchy melodies that will get stuck in your heads for sure, progressive song structures and electronic soundscapes. This is indeed some real mind fuck. And in some moments, it also reminds me of the old KILLSWITCH ENGAGE – which I dearly love anyways.
The following songs make clear that the listener needs to fasten his seatbelt tight, in order to survive a heavy ride throughout the contemporary metal world. One of my highlights can be found early in the third song off the album, ‘Moshpit’. Yes, the band apparently likes to give a perfect description of what awaits the listener already in their song titles. Matthias Kupka screams “Let’s get this moshpit started!” and then all hell breaks loose. Whoever doesn’t want to dance around like crazy and constantly bang his head to this song can’t be helped. I’m sure this one is going to become one of the new live favourites of the fans and it also whets my appetite for the upcoming summer festival season.
In song number four, ‘Feeling Inside’, the crazy synth sounds of Daniel Schmidle really stand out. Nevertheless, they perfectly match the general guitar- and double bass-laden sound of the band and give the sound another interesting direction. ‘Liar’s Truth’ starts with a bestial scream by Kupka and features a great IN FLAMES-style riffing and insane drum work. The song is followed by ‘Breathless’, in which the synths are a bit more reduced. Instead, it features a nice acoustic break that shows that the band can also master the more calmer moments. More proof for that can be found in another favourite of mine, ‘Lean On Words’. This song starts with a beautiful piano intro which leads into an acoustic verse with very calm, emotional clean vocals by Kupka. With that beginning, one could even imagine this to be the obligatory ballad of the album – but the silence is suddenly broken when the heavy guitars start to take over the game again.
Other favourites of mine are ‘Back From The Grave’, ‘rEvolution’ and ‘You’. Even though the first song title sounds rather dark and gloomy, the main riff of that song sounds just ridiculously happy in my ears, and the chorus might be the catchiest one on the record. ‘rEvolution’ obviously deals with the topic of the Guy Fawkes Night, featuring the catchy line “Remember, remember – the 5th of November…” The title track ‘You’, on the other hand, features an amazing guitar solo, striking synth elements and furious lyrics (“I wanna break your neck – bittersweet pleasure…”).
In general, the album is very well produced and contains a lot of real mosh parts, great guitar work, interesting synth effects, and outstanding vocals by Matthias Kupka, who can not only shout and growl like there’s no tomorrow, but is also a really good clean singer with a cool, edgy voice. It’s only January, I know, but EMERGENCY GATE have already managed to release one of the metal albums of the year – I’m sure. ‘You’ is the perfect album for any fan of modern metal who also has an affinity for the old Swedish melodic death metal representatives and who isn’t averse to some electronic sounds and catchy melodies. This band is definitely a force to be reckoned with among the ranks of the big names in heavy metal, so watch out!
Tracklist
01. Mindfuck
02. Force United
03. Moshpit
04. Feeling Inside
05. Liar's Truth
06. Breathless
07. rEvolution
08. You
09. Lean On Words
10. Regret
11. Back From The Grave
12. Say Goodbye
Line-up
Matthias Kupka – Vocals
Vlad Doose – Guitar
Udo Simon – Guitar
Mario Lochert – Bass
Chris “The Machine” Widmann – Drums
Daniel Schmidle – Keyboard, Synths
Website
http://www.emergency-gate.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/emergencygateonline / http://www.facebook.com/emergencygate
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 10
Sound: 9
Extras: Bonus DVD + 3 Bonus Tracks on the Limited Edition
Total: 9.5 / 10
Tour Dates
2013-02-09 – Munich (GER) – Backstage (Album Release Show)
2013-05-04 – Metal Bash Festival – Bad Wulmstorf (GER)
2013-05-25 – Under Dark Moon Metalfest – Dolní Čermná (CZE)
2013-06-29 – Basinfirefest – Pilsen (CZE)
2013-07-12 – Rock Harz Festival – Ballenstedt (GER)
2013-07-24 – Metal Days – Tolmin (SLO)
2013-07-25 – Rock im Betonwerk – Chemnitz (GER)
Comments powered by CComment