Early in my days as a prog rock reviewer, Anubis’s sophomore album A Tower of Silence fell into my lap and I was instantly smitten. While it only got an 8/10 from me at the time, I found that it had incredible staying power and it was one of the very few albums I reviewed that actually stayed with me and, as such, deserved to be on my top 10 of the decade. Anubis also helped me to see my writing in print for the first time when they included the concluding sentence of my review in their full-page advert in Prog Magazine.
In hindsight, I cringe whenever I think about that sentence, which is the longest on the page. Writing ‘value for money’ could have insinuated that Anubis were selling their album dirt cheap. I’ve forgiven myself though, because I have accepted that I was just a young, inexperienced reviewer scrabbling to end a review with something snappy. And clearly, the band didn’t mind it either.
While I truly enjoyed A Tower of Silence, it wasn’t strong enough to convince me to follow the band’s career afterwards. The band’s chosen style neatly fitted into the ‘neo-prog’ category, which at the time felt like a dirty word. There was a sense that neo-prog artists such as IQ weren’t really bringing anything new to the table and were coasting off nostalgia by catering to an older audience, and what we should really be focusing on was music that was actually progressive, daring to take more risks. Looking back, it’s an unfair, snobby accusation based on a lot of assumptions and one that probably stopped me from enjoying a lot of great neo-prog music.
With more respect to the band, I really wasn’t sure they could pull something like this off again. The 8/10 score in my review reflected that only about half of the tracks on the 72-minute album were strong (which is still pretty great) but it seemed more of a matter of luck if they’d find the right composition to really blow the house down in the same way that The Holy Innocent and All That Is did. Perhaps I was simply afraid of being disappointed.
All these years later, I think I’ve dropped any pretence about not liking neo-prog; as long as it sounds good, I like it. I was delighted to see Anubis’s name on our roster once again as all my memories of enjoying A Tower of Silence flooded back to me, and I definitely felt I could use that sort of energy in my life once again. I instantly requested the album. Then, the doubts started to creep in. I considered how Haken – who have operated on a similar timeline as Anubis – have completely changed their sound in the last decade; could Anubis be a completely different kettle of fish to the last time I encountered them?
I’m delighted to report that The Unforgivable still gives that neo-prog kick that fans will be used to, albeit in a more streamlined form. The album features ten shorter tracks that make up its 46-minute runtime. The downside is that this leads to fewer standout tracks and definitely nothing to compare with The Holy Innocent, but the upside is that the whole album becomes an epic itself; there are no gaps between the songs so one could treat this as a long suite of music. It certainly feels like it.
Like so many prog albums before it, this album is cyclical, featuring a radio broadcast about tornados at the end of the final track that can be heard again at the start. The introductory track also features a soft musical theme from that last part and the cyclical nature of the album (coupled with many media players’ default setting to play albums on a loop) makes for addictive listening. The 46 minutes seem to fly by and by the time the album ends, I’m ready to listen all over again.
The band put their best foot forward with the first proper track of the album The Mark of Cain. I’m astonished they didn’t use this as the leading single from the album as it’s the catchiest song and features strong musical themes throughout. Right from the start, the drummer plays an odd, unpredictable pattern that suggests the song is bursting with unbridled energy; it’s a far cry from most of the plodding, standard songs you hear these days. During the chorus, a jazzy improvised piano fill between each line adds character and quickly becomes what you look forward to about the song. An inventive touch.
The album then takes a sharp left turn into doom metal territory; of all the segues on this album, this is my least favourite as it completely disregards the energy of the previous piece. Fortunately, Alone perks up a little before we get to The Chains, which easily has the most IQ-ish neo-prog energy of the album, with a bouncy synthesiser theme between the odd time signature choruses. The longest track on the album (though not by much), this piece has enough time for a delightfully atmospheric but energetic instrumental as well as an ending theme that will recur throughout the album.
One Last Thing slows the pace down but adds drama with a beautiful coda full of choral vocals and searing guitar. This takes us to the theoretical Side Two of the album which begins with the sound of a passing train. The train makes a strong rhythmic percussive sound and I reckon that Anubis missed a trick by not building off that rhythm into the start of a new song. Instead, All Because of You begins in a subdued, tacet fashion before reprising the theme heard in The Chains.
The End of the Age has a more purposefully robotic feel, beginning in 11/8 and featuring synthesisers more heavily. During the pre-chorus and into the chorus we also hear a female singer – Becky Bennison – adding a new slant to the sound. Enjoyably, the bridge features a discombobulating mix of 7/8 and 9/8; usually when progressive bands alternate time signatures, they will be 1/8 apart – e.g. 7/8 and 4/4, which is what I thought I was hearing at first. I kept getting confused because of the extra note the group added, but when I finally wrapped my head around it, it was all the more satisfying to listen to. Something I enjoy about prog music is when bands give you little mental puzzles to solve.
Earlier, I said I was astonished that the band didn’t use The Mark of Cain as the leading single; the next track – Back – is what they used instead. It’s not bad, per se, but in my opinion, it’s one of the least interesting tracks on the album, along with Alone. Back feels like filler, quite repetitive and with few opportunities for the musicians to shine. Is the feeling that the less interesting a song is, the more likely it is to receive radio play? Because I can’t exactly see this being played on the radio either.
Shadows Cloak the Gospel seems to perform largely the same function that The Holy Innocent did on A Tower of Silence, featuring a quiet vocal section leading to a soaring guitar solo over a more predictable (than The End of the Age, at least) 4/4 + 7/8 rhythm before the final song. It’s a really decent track, but it suffers from being in the shadow of the band’s former, better efforts. Rarely has 7/8 sounded as majestic as it did on The Holy Innocent, so this song barely stood a chance.
The title track concludes the album in epic fashion with power chords, guitar solos and vocal high notes. Clearly designed to bring the house down, this happy ending gives way to another, slightly different reprise of the theme we’ve heard earlier. As the music concludes, we’re left with the same radio broadcast we heard at the beginning, inviting the listener to give the album one more spin. On more occasions than not, I have taken up that offer.
Although it took a few attempts for this album to get its hooks into me, it has become a fast grower. Along with the album’s cyclical nature, I’d also like to praise its brevity; it may not allow for the band to have any extended solos or compositions, but it will definitely leave the audience wanting more rather than less. Anubis should be very proud of this continuous suite that has very few weak spots. That being said, The Unforgivable does not quite recapture the glory days of A Tower of Silence, even if it is a more consistent album overall.
TRACK LISTING
01. Part I – A Legion of Angels (1:08)
02. Part II – The Mark of Cain (5:45)
03. Part III – Alone (3:53)
04. Part IV – The Chains (6:42)
05. Part V – One Last Thing (5:26)
06. Part VI – All Because of You (4:10)
07. Part VII – The End of the Age (3:39)
08. Part VIII – Back (4:17)
09. Part IX – Shadows Cloak the Gospel (4:57)
10. Part X – The Unforgivable (6:39)
Total Time – 46:31
MUSICIANS
Robert James Moulding – Vocal, Guitar, Percussion
David Eaton – Keyboards, Soundscapes, 12 String Guitar, Bass Pedals, Vocal
Dean Bennison – Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Vocal
Anthony Stewart – Bass Guitar, Vocal
Steven Eaton – Drums, Percussion, Vocal
~ With:
Becky Bennison – Additional Vocals (7 & 8)
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Independent
Catalogue#: ANU011
Country of Origin: Australia
Date of Release: 6th September 2024
LINKS
Anubis – Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube | Soundcloud | X