Gates Of Winter
Lux Aeterna
6.3
Gates of Winter is a young, unsigned act out of Canada that plays epic, sweeping metal that flirts with progressive, power, and doom influences without ever letting one style take over. Right off the bat, the band's polished recording and mature songwriting tactics give an aura of a veteran signed act, but I won't go as far as saying this is better than what most labels are putting out, however, with the proper amount of exposure, Lux Aeterna could definitely hold its own on most labels.
Some people hate name-checking, but I fucking love it so deal. A random mixture of Novembers Doom, Amorphis, Opeth, Symphony X, Kamelot, Arcturus, etc. is what Gates of Winter delivers on their debut. The songs are generally over 5 minutes long so you can expect lots of steadily progressing arrangements full of not-quite-plodding-but-certainly-not-quick tempos (besides some speedier sections like in "From the Flesh") that explore hopeful melodies as often as melancholic ones.
A decent array of vocal approaches are used including Akerfeldt-like croons, a little harsher clean, and powerful bellows. Steve Fergiuele makes good use of his six stringed bass, playing a predominantly supporting role with some interesting embellishments and a variety of techniques, but is obviously talented enough to take on a bigger role in the band. Liberal doses of keys litter the background mostly for atmosphere's sake, though from time to time synths will jump out and rip surprisingly effective leads or twinkly, classical-influenced flourishes.
So basically Lux Aeterna is a good debut, an above average self-released album, can stand toe to toe with most similar releases and may very well get the band a record deal, but Gates of Winter probably won't be taking rotation time away from the bands I mentioned earlier. Assuming they didn't blow their whole load with this release, the future looks bright for this band, especially if they can continue to improve.
