Album Review: Anubis - Anthromorphicide
Reviewed by Gareth Pugh
Anubis although a new name to me, formed in 2019 as a creative outlet for Devin Reiche, allowing him to fully embrace his passion as a heavy metal vocalist, and step beyond his role as bassist in thrash band Hatchet. Joined early on by bassist Will Buckley, the band released a series of EPs and standalone singles, steadily building momentum both online and throughout Southern California’s metal scene. That growing reputation culminated in Anubis signing with M-Theory Audio and releasing their full-length debut ‘Dark Paradise’ in 2024. Despite frequent lineup changes over the years, the band’s forward momentum has never slowed, with Anubis continuing to write, record, and perform relentlessly. The current incarnation of Anubis features Ulises Hernandez (Novareign, Judicator) on guitar, David Velez (Witherfall) on drums, new vocalist Hanna Preston, and the returning Justin Escamilla (Tower Guard) on guitar, thus solidifying a lineup poised to carry the band into its next era.
Having not heard the band’s previous output and seeing the dizzying amount of past material (6 EPs and 8 singles), I decided to forgo a catch up and dive straight into the new album - “Anthromorphicide” as the album’s title literally translates to “the death of the human form, a word meaning transformation, or evolution” signifying a new beginning. Starting with the energetic ‘Nuclear Dawn’, immediately obvious is the speed and heaviness and yet the prominent feature is how melodic the music and vocals are.
The band can definitely play; ‘Celestial’ is ridiculously fast, with super rapid drumming, pulsing basslines, and intricate guitar work. Things continue at this outrageous pace on ‘The Anarcist’ and it’s only when we get to the fourth track, the epic ‘ The Fire Inside’ that we get some respite from the speed, it’s an ambitious track but a bit too grandiose and overblown for this writer’s taste, but kudos to the band for trying different styles. The speed returns with the furious title-track, with its relentless driving verses and stuttering start/stop chorus, before ending with some blistering solos. ‘Faded Angel’ is the heaviest track here with some Death metal influences creeping in, especially in the vocals, but there is still a very strong sense of melody. ‘Ancient at Birth’ starts as a big, bombastic, theatrical number, where ‘Battalion’ finishes the album with a thrashier feel, and is a great end stop to the proceedings.
Overall, this album was quite the surprise, and certainly entertaining, this wouldn’t be a genre I’d normally listen to, but I’m glad I have, as it’s been an enjoyable ride. The band isn’t afraid to add different elements into the mix to create a unique sound for themselves, although I do feel that some of the faster songs are too similar in pace, so as a whole the album does become a little bit samey, although I’m nit-picking here. Another issue is that I think they have under used Hanna’s vocals, as when they sing together, they provide some great contrast to Devin’s. Hanna did join when the majority of the album was completed though, so perhaps that is understandable and is also very exciting for the future. If you like the pomp of power metal but with a bit more metallic thrash grit, or even vice versa, than this is an album well worth checking out.
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