Track Review: “Key and the Gate” by Gaia

Gearing up to release their debut full length in the later half of 2022 are Brighton based Progressive Metallers Gaia who in 2019 won the Metal 2 the Masses competition and played the Newblood Stage of Bloodstock, airing cuts from their self titled EP alongside the previously unreleased “The White Ship“. Taking influence musically from bands like Tool, Jinjer and TesseacT the band have written an album based around the creatures and stories of HP Lovecraft, usually reserved for Black or Death Metal with “Key and the Gate” the first single, mixed and mastered Sphynx Studios (Woe Betide, VoidWeaver) and adorned by cover artwork from Ed Moffatt at Deviant Art…

…From the first note to the final fade with first single “Key and the Gate” Gaia have given us something that turns an album of unknown proportions into a mouth watering prospect. Hard hitting Progressive Tech-Metal riffs are the order of the day with plenty of verve and bounce in the mix thanks to a sublime job from Sphynx Studios, while the diversity in the vocals is nothing short of incredible. From guttural lows to rap screams to higher pitched clean sung and almost ethereal parts it’s as if Jens Kidman of Meshuggah and Matt Bellamy of Muse were both on the same track and as the tale ebbs and flows like a river to the sea, the balance between the harsh and the angelic has been perfectly balanced on a knife edge. Programmed elements give everything a lift but have been well worked so as not to drown the chugging guitar work and instead simply bejewels what the band have already created, while a tapping section in the finale reminds of bands like Polaris at their finest. Please Sir, can we have some more? [8/10]