I’ve always said one of our principles is to give nostalgia a chance, even though we deeply hate leaning on it. Lately, we’ve been indulging bands that sound straight out of 1995. So, when I heard Typhonian was 90s-inspired with a Swedish Death Metal sound, I puked my breakfast all over my marble countertop—because, honestly, I can’t handle another retro album this week. However, The Gate of the Veiled Beyond promised something different, claiming to pay homage to Edge of Sanity—and I’m always down for that kind of nostalgia. So, let’s set aside our biases for once and check this beast out.
What the fudge is Typhonian trying to be here? This is a strange album, no doubt. Despite all the parts of The Gate feeling “right”, you can never tell if a track will be straight-up old Swedish Death Metal (“Primal Deceptive Light”) or an intense emotional journey à la Intestine Baalism (“Crimson Rivers”). There’s a lot to unpack, and the pacing is so bizarre that one listen won’t do it justice. There’s a clear attempt to go Prog here, though it’s not present on every track. This wasn’t what I expected, especially with that doomy, cosmic cover art.
As with any Nordic-sounding album, The Gate leans heavily on melodic guitar work. It’s not overly aggressive. Instead, it feels like you’re contemplating some kind of cosmic portal leading to new horrors—yet it does this with as much emotion as possible. I truly appreciate how Typhonian takes familiar Death Metal tropes and refuses to present them in a cliché way. Still, there are a few things I’m working through. As I mentioned, The Gate isn’t an easy album to categorize or understand in its entirety, so I’ll try to make sense of it in the next paragraph!
The question here is whether The Gate is cohesive enough. Up until the final track, it feels that way, but the band takes a huge risk (one that pays off) by closing with an epically long song, especially when the rest of the album doesn’t exactly feel short. As individual tracks, they all slay, but as a whole, it’s harder to grasp how they fit together—especially in the latter half. But maybe I’m overcomplicating things! Maybe you just want gorgeous and brutal riffs coming at you nonstop.
So, if you’re not overthinking it like I am, you’ll probably love this album. It’s undoubtedly creative in its use of old-school influences, which is awesome. The Gate demands your attention and definitely rewards multiple listens—and I think that’s totally worth it. Now, I need to stop the cats from eating my puked breakfast, so I’ll be back soon!
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Release date: 20 September, 2024
Website: https://www.facebook.com/typhonianband
Country: Germany
Score: Acceptable gore, or 3.8/5.0
Metal Eclipse Reviews 