Review: “The Eighth Colour of Rainbow” EP by GlassGate

Recorded at GM Recording Studio in the Czech Republic and Engineered, Mixed and Mastered by Martin Rozenek, Power Metallers GlassGate have fired their first shot across the bows. Founded in 2018 in Rajec, Slovakia and comprising drummer Peter “Frodo” Pauliny, vocalist Marek Milo, guitarist Maros Malicek, keyboardist Jozef Kozarik and bassist Juraj Simek, all three of whom provide backing vocals, they have already set fire to the thatched roves of their local venues as well as sharing stages with Ukrainian’s Sunrise for a pair of shows on their European Tour.

Starting with a classical Power Metal fanfare of guitar work, “Age of the Unknown” has something of a false start in it with the guitars bowing out at 52 seconds for the start of the verse with bass and drums alone. By the time those guitars rise again you already have an impression of tale of sea going adventurers sailing to distant lands in search of the unknown courtesy of Marek Milo and some accented lyrics that themselves give that sense. As you would expect, there is an epic solo from Maros Malicek, while keyboard sounds underpin everything without taking over too much. Classically “Rose in the Dust” has a piano introduction from Jozef Kozarik that is accompanied by some acoustic guitar work for a verse before exploding into life with a high pitched scream from Milo that brings the guitars, bass and drums crashing like a tsunami on shores. The song then gallops on at a fine pace with keyboard, piano and guitar solos, each one providing a moment for the individuals to shine. It’s a piece of storytelling mastery that works very well.

As you might expect with the word “Eighth” in the title, EP title track “The Eighth Colour of Rainbow” reaches the eight minute mark with a Europe esq introduction and a neat bass solo of sorts from Juraj Simek. The mixing of this track has allowed the bass a bit more space in the mix and it bleeds out in places which is a nice touch. Milo has a classic Hard Rock vocal style and some of his shrill pitching makes it easy to picture him fronting an AC/DC covers band really well. While the Power Metal style of GlassGate is far more progressive, those vocal elements give a fine point of difference and a gravity to proceedings. The song has a melodic break sound the 6 minute mark before kicking back in before guitar and keyboard solos which demonstrate some sublime musicanship appear over the horizon. After such an epic title track, “Army of Fools” is less than 4 minutes, with a blistering piece of lead work opening it up and then continuing to re-appear throughout. The chanted chorus has sing-a-long ability and the likes of Alestorm should be looking to pick them up the next time they’re cutting across Europe! [7.5/10]

Track listing

1. Age of the Unknown
2. Rose in the Dust
3. The Eighth Colour of Rainbow
4. Army of Fools

“The Eighth Colour of Rainbow” by GlassGate is out now and available over at bandcamp.