It's arguably taken a few years for Henrik Fevre to grow into Jacob Hansen's boots as Anubis Gate vocalist, always a respectable bassist for the band but taking a little longer to convince fans that he was a worthy replacement for his predecessor. Certainly, none of the albums since personal favourite The Detached in 2009 have hit anywhere near as hard or proved to have such lasting quality in terms of songwriting, and bands such as Haken have taken the lead in the modern prog world rather easily. So with Anubis Gate returning with their ninth full-length, can they claw back their position? Yes and no - this is certainly their best album in a while, quite possibly since The Detached, and the songwriting has sharpened considerably. It's still nowhere near as good as past highlights, however, and more than pales in direct comparison.

Yet Anubis Gate fans who have stuck with the band thus far will remain satisfied. From opener Emergence onwards there's a good use of backing keyboards and electronics beneath Kim Olesen and Michael Bodin's guitars to round out the band's sound, and a real variety of riffs from chugging to more expansive and atmospheric work. The keyboards come into their own in the Pain Of Salvation-esque intro section to Ignorance is Bliss, a bass-and-electronic-led backing to Fevre's vocals that expands into a typical post-Dream Theater gallop, not to mention the near-orchestral interlude between metallic outpourings later. And then, the eight-minute Number Stations moves in a more moody, atmospheric direction with a vocal workout for Fevre that feels at least spiritually akin to something from The Detached era. You can't accuse the band of not trying hard to make songs distinct or interesting...

Some certainly hit stronger than others, however. The Phoenix goes much more full-on with the electro-prog and feels a little too similar to Haken or even Voyager territory as a result thanks to some slightly too cheerful piano, while those harsher vocals on the more aggressive Equations will have mixed reactions although it's one of the album's catchiest pieces and is a highlight otherwise. Dissonance Consonance, on the other hand, is notable only for some energetic chugging that doesn't really fit the song, which feels rather cobbled together. The same could be said for longest track present The Intergalactic Dream of Stardom, a nearly-nine-minute prog epic that is dominated by vocals and synths to nicely spacey effect but doesn't really do enough with it, some bouncy groovy riffing towards the end feeling a little too late.

Conversely, World of Clay has both chuggy riffing and an intense vocal performance, and it comes together nicely in comparison with the more experimental and overly complex pieces surrounding it. Simpler can be better - the extended voiceovers on the title track feel very unnecessary, for instance, nearly spoiling the much better instrumental proggery on the latter half. It's a solid enough album, all in all, and shows that there's still life for the band post-Hansen, but stops just short of being up to the standards we've heard Anubis Gate reach before.