Danish melodic prog metal band Anubis Gate has created its finest release to date with its sixth full-length album, Horizons. On its 10 expansive pieces, brightly-colored textures of ’70s prog elements are melded together with multi-layered, modern prog elements. You’ll hear traces of Asia, Genesis, King Crimson and Yes from the old school class, while new school bands such as Dream Theater, Periphery, Tesseract and Leprous are represented. Vocalist Henrik Fevres has an impeccable vocal range. It’s a combination of Jon Anderson’s soaring melodies, John Wetton’s distinct vibrancy and James LaBrie’s melodic wails, delivered with a heartfelt conviction. The band convincingly shows its diversity and dexterity on “Hear My Call.” It’s a mixture of spacey keyboard atmospherics, driving rhythms, chugging riffs and melodic vocals. The Flamenco-picked guitar segment adds some nice flavor, too. The almost-thrashy riffage and pummeling double bassery of “Revolution Come Undone” turns the album up a notch, proving the band can pour on the heaviness when it fits the mood. ‘Ideology turned to mindlessness’ is poignantly uttered by Fevres on “Mindlessness.” Its varying pace is decorated with swirling rhythms, cascading keyboards and driving guitars. However, I’m not sure that I would’ve ended the disc with a mellow acoustic ballad like “Erasure” when there was so much momentum beforehand. Horizons has a great “record” vibe to it and it’s easy to get lost in. It takes you through many peaks and valleys with its seamlessly interchangeable transitions. Not to mention the guitar solos are brilliant.