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ANUBIS SPIRE

Crossover Prog • United States


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Anubis Spire picture
Anubis Spire biography
US outfit ANUBIS SPIRE was formed in 1998 by Bill MacKechnie (guitars, vocals), Dave Sweet (keyboards, vocals), Tim Costley (bass) and Mick Loher (drums, percussion) following a chance jam session. The musicians, all of them seasoned players, found that they shared a desire to create music inspired by 70's acts such as Led Zeppelin and The Mahavishnu Orchestra. They soon set out to harness their various individual infleunces into a coherent musical package, spicing it with elements from ethnic and world music along the way.

Their first album Old Lions (In the World of Snarling Sheeps) was issued later the same year, recorded live on an old 8-track in an old barn. 6 years later the compilation album Back to Abydos followed, featuring live recordings and previously unreleased early material by the band. In 2006 their sophomore studio effort Children of a Foreign Fate followed, and in 2008 a new compilation of live recordings and unreleased material, Lost Discoveries 1998-2008 was issued.

The band, who describes their recording habits as sloth-like, have for some time been working on their third studio effort, tentatively named Erratica.

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ANUBIS SPIRE discography


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ANUBIS SPIRE top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.75 | 8 ratings
Old Lions (In the World of Snarling Sheeps)
1998
3.88 | 8 ratings
Children of a Foreign Fate
2006
3.71 | 14 ratings
Between The Two Eternities
2016
3.00 | 4 ratings
Erratica
2016
3.69 | 13 ratings
Spooky Action at a Distance
2017
3.58 | 12 ratings
Divining Rod
2017
3.43 | 7 ratings
Doorways
2018
3.12 | 7 ratings
White Crow
2019

ANUBIS SPIRE Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

ANUBIS SPIRE Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

ANUBIS SPIRE Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

4.50 | 4 ratings
Back to Abydos
2004
4.00 | 4 ratings
Lost Discoveries 1998-2008
2008
0.00 | 0 ratings
Traveling by Tunnel Twenty Years Under the Radar 1
2020
0.00 | 0 ratings
Traveling by Tunnel Twenty Years Under the Radar 2
2020
0.00 | 0 ratings
Traveling by Tunnel Twenty Years Under the Radar 3
2020

ANUBIS SPIRE Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

0.00 | 0 ratings
Time is a Tyrant
2016
0.00 | 0 ratings
Don't Know How to Roll
2016
0.00 | 0 ratings
Welcome to Maplecroft (Overture)
2016
0.00 | 0 ratings
Harryhausen in Love
2016
0.00 | 0 ratings
Heartless White Line
2016
0.00 | 0 ratings
Awake (The Vanished)
2016
0.00 | 0 ratings
Be Numb
2016
0.00 | 0 ratings
Walls of Troy
2016
4.00 | 1 ratings
The Loneliness (At the Center of the World)
2018
3.00 | 1 ratings
Burning Alexandria Down Again
2018
3.00 | 1 ratings
Blues for the Doctor
2018

ANUBIS SPIRE Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 White Crow by ANUBIS SPIRE album cover Studio Album, 2019
3.12 | 7 ratings

BUY
White Crow
Anubis Spire Crossover Prog

Review by TCat
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin

3 stars Annubis Spire is a US Crossover Prog band formed in 1998 who has released 8 full length albums since that time. Their 8th studio album "White Crow" was released in March of 2019, and features the current line-up of Bill MacKechnie on vocals and guitars, Michael Leo Brothers on vocals and guitars, Tim Costley on bass and Mick Loher on drums and percussion. The album has 11 tracks, none of which break the 6 minute mark, except for the opening track "Sentimental Prison" which has a nice combination of guitar and synth, but is a fairly straightforward and mid-tempo track that has shades of Floydian influence.

Bill's vocals are in the mid-range and are pleasant enough, but not really emotional either, however, he makes the lyrics quite easy to understand. As the album moves into "Captain I Need a Mission" we pretty much start off with the same sound as the previous track, but before 2 minutes, the entire feel of the track goes to a more upbeat rhythm for the rest of the track. There is still nothing really amazing here though, its all pretty straightforward with some okay solos. Interestingly enough, the next track "Love in the Time of Madness" is an instrumental which moves along quite well, but doesn't really develop into much. "Hindu Kush Newsreel" is a bit heavier with some nice sounding guitar work, even though it is a bit overproduced. This song would have been much better, but there is some spoken word going on throughout it which supposed to be like a news program, but it sounds a bit convoluted and ruins the intensity that is apparent in the background that only really stands out when the spoken word "verses" stop.

"Full Thrust" is sounds like a bad electonica track that tries to be stately but sounds a bit washed out. Nice for variety, but it doesn't sound very believable. "White Crow" goes back to a track where the lyrics are supposed to be important about a cult leader's bad habits. It's another heavy song, but it just seems flat and fake. "The Loneliness (at the Center of the World)" is a nice guitar instrumental, but is pretty standard and nothing stands out at all. "Damn Sick and Tired Blues (for Whiteboy Slim)" is a combination of acoustic and electric guitar with gruff vocals. The track is a combination of blues and rock, but again is a bit unbelievable and a tad silly.

"Sabbadelic" is another guitar rock instrumental that has a Hendrix vibe to it, but doesn't really deliver. "From That Window" is a soft track with tacky spoken word passages that later grows in intensity. "Falling Over Me (Like Stars)" is a nice slower guitar led instrumental, probably the most interesting on the album. Even then, it has all been heard before.

There is nothing wrong with variety on an album, in fact, I am all for it. But to pull it off, you have to be good at it. Variety can exist even when an artist or band has an overall specific sound by incorporating traits from other genres into their own style. But when a band tries to just hit every genre they can trying to sound like other artists besides themselves, it can feel unauthentic, as is the case here. The tracks are decent, but when its all said and done, it is all just mediocre, and nothing stands out. They did hit several genres in this album, but none of it is progressive. As such, it's all pretty standard music, average sounding and it receives an average rating.

Thanks to windhawk for the artist addition.

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