230503

Very interesting debut album from these aussies. They sure know how to mix 70´s style prog music with modern sounds resulting a very strong record. But I must confess I wasn´t taken by 230503 at first. Their tendency for the prog metal side caught me by surprise since this band was labeled as neo prog. Sure, they do have an afinity with the classic bands (Pink Floyd being the most obvious one), they like to use vintage sounding keyboards together with heavy guitars that sometimes tend for the alternative, but not too much. After some time you get used to it and you can really enjoy this CD a lot.

230503 is a concept album and - like all of them - it has some ups and downs, because the music has to follow the storyline. But fortunatly there are much more ups than down moments. Some parts are very emotional and the guitars soar (yes, the ones that sound like Gilmour!). Robert James Moulding´s voice is not one of the best, but he delivers the goods with such passion and sincerity you have to be made of stone not to be moved by his singing. The same can be said of the instrumental side of the CD. The production is excellent, with all the instruments very well balanced all through the record.

Conclusion: this is surely a band to watch. The music is energetic and full of conviction. A very good start. I´m looking forward to hear their next works. Rating: four strong stars. Welcome, guys!

I kept telling myself I have to review this album. It is a very good record, exceptional for a debut, exceptional in almost every sense.

What we get here is a brand of prog that falls under neo-crossover-symphonic so the band is pretty genre-defying which I admire. It came as unexpected to me, I only read three reviews of the album and was kind of going on a limb, but I've loved the album since first listen.

Their is some type of concept that I have not been able to decipher (making me listen harder) and the music is very intriquing (making each listen enjoyable).

The music itself is kind of hard to describe because the mood shifts quite a bit throughout but overall there is a sort of heavy acoustic feel. When they rock out, they really rock out though and the saxophone is an addition that really gives the album a good flavor.

Just simple decent music. A kind that I haven't seen in awhile. 5 stars (practically without hesitation).

There's been a bit of a buzz about this Australian band of late with the release of their first studio album even if it was back in 2009. I can definitely understand the appeal after spending a few days listening to it. The big positive for me is the atmosphere that these guys develope throughout. They have a good sound overall as well although the one negative for me are the vocals.The vocals and their sound I would describe as modern.The vocalist almost seems like he's shouting the lyrics at times like the vocalist for THE DEAR HUNTER or MUSE does. And for most this will be a good thing but not for me. By the way this is an over 69 minute concept album.

"The Deepest Wound" opens with a phone ringing as atmosphere rolls in.Vocals and a full sound before a minute. I like the guitar solo after 3 minutes. "Leaving Here Tonight" features strummed guitar as reserved vocals join in. A more powerful sound after 2 minutes. Atmosphere ends it. "Breaking Water" opens with water sounds and piano as fragile vocals join in. Sampled mellotron after a minute comes and goes. Atmosphere after 3 minutes to end it. "Waterfall" is a relaxing tune with vocals. Strings late. "Anonymity" has a good beat with bass and strange sounds. It settles before 3 minutes with mellotron and spoken words. "The Bond Of Mutual Distrust" kicks in quickly with vocals. Not a fan of this one.The guitar is crying out 5 minutes in. Atmosphere after 9 minutes to end it.

"The Doctor" is drum led as vocals join in this uptempo track. Not a fan. "Flying / Falling" opens with piano and synths as it builds. "The Collapse" has some organ in it but it's the bass and vocals that stand out early. Guitar 2 1/2 minutes in. Strings and piano 5 minutes in. Some kiiller guitar after 10 1/2 minutes. Atmosphere ends it. "Disinfected And Abused" is powerful early but then it settles with vocals 1 1/2 minutes in. Contrasts continue. Mellotron and sax before 3 1/2 minutes. It kicks back in at 6 minutes .It settles 10 1/2 minutes in with vocals, bass and atmosphere. Spoken words before 12 minutes as the song continues to play out.

A good album no doubt and one where they really try to draw you into the concept.

This is an album that I liked from the start, every song was listenable and diverse. Now, after the twenty-somethingth listen, I can say that I know and like this album very much. A near masterpiece, with lots of theatric vocals, very competent playing from all of the musicians, and some sound songwriting. The album's weakness is two-fold: 1) it relies on old hooks from classic soli or chord progressions (mostly from PINK FLOYD and GENESIS, some YES)--and not just as "hats off" tributes to those bands, and; 2) many sections of songs are rather simply constructed (i.e. do not really take virtuosic competence in order to perform them--not unlike MUSE, THE DEAR HUNTER or AIRBAG). However, the longer songs have a very nice diversity of sounds, tempos and moods in them and are the highlights of the album. A great album, excellent for any prog lover's collection. Not a masterpiece, though. Not sophisticated or emotional enough. Close, though. Definitely an album that deserves more listens--more attention. 4.5 stars.

Modern progressive rock band from Sydney,Australia.The idea of the project falls in the hands of singer Robert James Moulding and keyboardist David Eaton.The line-up was completed by Nick Antoinette on bass,Doug Skene and Dean Bennison on guitars along with drummer Steve Eaton.Their debut,actually an indepedent release,was released in 2009 under the title ''230503''.

Here Anubis mix a bit of everything in a rather chaotic release,which is based on rather accesible songwriting,but with a result very confusing.Elements from Heavy Rock,Neo Prog,Progressive Metal,Psychedelic Rock and Alternative Rock are thrown all in Anubis' basket with powerful,dynamic and atmospheric tracks.The singer though has a very common voice,suitable for modern rock bands but not for a progressive-styled one,while the guitar work is very grungy sometimes,being like a fish out of the water and some distorted parts here and there are too indifferent.The compositions,which are of course the most important part of the album,contain some above average ideas,very far from winning an Oscar or being original,but still listenable.The problem is that these ideas seems to be incorrectly mixed,resulting something trully energetic,but not quite memorable.Yet you can see some rays of sunshine through the compositions with a few nice melodies,some challenging breaks,while the heavy loads of mellotron are well-executed and add a very mysterious feeling combined with the general heavy sound.

Anubis' debut falls short compared to many other records by modern bands trying to push the Classic Prog sound a bit further and customize it to today's standars.Still the high levels of energy of this young band give hope for a better future and one wonders what will be born,if this power transforms into strong,adventurous and memorable songwriting...2.5 stars.

With the recurring motif of a ringing telephone that's never answered weaving its way through the album, 230503 by Anubis revolves around a mysterious concept surrounding the death of its protagonist. With touching lyrics and emotional performances, the band deploy a particularly masterful form of neo-prog which sounds extremely up to date at places whilst still tapping in to time-honoured prog traditions - imagine a fusion between Muse and IQ and you might get some idea of where things are going here. Although the concept seems a little muddled - perhaps as a result of it being repurposed as a general sort of everyman story as opposed to being a veiled tribute to a departed friend of the band - on the whole this is a pretty decent first album which put Anubis on the neo-prog map, though I find it less compelling on return listens.

ANUBIS was founded in 2004 by Robert James Moulding (vocals / percussion / bass) and David Eaton (keyboards / vocals/ guitars) in Sidney, Australia and was intended to be a one album project dedicated to the memory of a friend who was killed the prior year. In fact the title 230503 refers to the dreadful date on which the tragedy occurred. The album is absolutely drenched in symbolism beginning with the very name of the band itself which refers to the famous jackal-headed god associated with mummification and afterlife in ancient Egypt. The album took three years to create and would not see a release until 2009. The result of all this carefully well-crafted effort is almost 70 minutes of music which is a beautiful masterpiece of both emotional and instrumental splendor.

Like most neo-prog albums this too is a concept album which while inspired by the loss of a friend, is more of a fictional tale that handles the concept of a man who falls from a boat in the open sea and ends up washing ashore with amnesia. He finds his way back to his city of origin and has to deal with finding out who he is. The story reminds me of good old fashioned Pink Floyd inspired paranoia as do some of the space rock effects in the extended instrumental workouts.

Although neo-prog is the template for song writing and story-telling, the music expands into many musical territories. This is neo-prog that one can totally ignore the story and still be floored by the sheer amount of ingenious twists and turns on a musical level alone. The parts that are associated with neo-prog such as the swirling synth lines is taken to an extreme here as there are so many complementary synth lines that build on layers upon layers to form this melodic behemoth. Equally compelling are the guitar parts that take a Porcupine Tree approach in chord progressions while adding some extremely beautiful guitar solos and fills when necessary, but so forceful and powerful that they nurture my headbanging side while assuaging my thirst for melody.

I simply find myself getting sucked into 230503 so deeply that I never once become bored throughout its entirety. The constant effort to keep the rhythmic pace diverse with the perfectly aligned spaced out slow parts with the hard rockin' ones really paces itself in tandem with the story that is laid out. The music is far more diverse than most neo-prog releases dare go. There are chimes and bells for percussion, there are swirling helices of synth sounds, upbeat swing rock, sizzling sax solos and of course the opening telephone that sets the stage for the narration to unfold which takes the listener full circle to the end which ends with the same. While the general consensus is that the second album "A Tower Of Silence" is their best album, I will have to go against the grain and go for the debut. For anyone who may consider neo-prog to dabble on the cheesiest AOR side of music and simply a form of "soft prog" then I highly advise you to check out ANUBIS who devastates any such cliché and delivers a brilliant blend of influences with a highly developed sense of creative expression.

Being a big fan of neo-prog, since long was I looking forward to hearing an album of this Australian band! But 230503 is not the great surprise I was looking for.

First, the subpar production makes this album too noisy and sometimes even unpleasant to hear. The mix of the guitars is too loud, and so are the vocals. And that's maybe not so bad, but the problem is that the vocals are just lame. And the mixing of the album gives an absurd relevance to them... Hard to understand.

The rest of the band makes a good work, specially the competent keyboards, some interesting bass playing and the usually fantastic guitar solos.

But talking about the music comes the second big problem apart from the production. Here we encounter the typical 90's and 00's neo-prog with influences from Pendragon, Arena and similar bands and sometimes the band is able achieve to reach some originality and fine ideas like in Waterfall and The Collapse but mostly is just average neo-prog with bad vocals. And even worse are some experiments like the jazzy and really bad The Doctor and the boring instrumental Anonymity.

In conclusion, the debut of Anubis is average prog with lame vocals and some good ideas in my opinion, wasted by a subpar production and some really boring songs, making this album a mixed experience between the worst and the best of neo-prog.

Best Tracks: Waterfall (great bass line at 01:00 and a good guitar solo), The Collapse (another great guitar solo and a very interesting instrumental section at 04:18) and Disinfected and Abused (not a great epic, but a worthy effort)

My rating: **

The patchily shaven cheek of neo prog is offered up for a kiss on this stunning debut. From inspiration to release, "230503" was a 6 year project motivated by the desire to pay tribute to a departed friend, but morphed into a twisted and tragic work of fiction. The story is secondary to its capacity to unify over an hour of diversity, a task too seldom undertaken let alone achieved in neo prog.

It's all here, the tortured vocals, the dreamy sequences, the soaring leads, the metallic riffs, and the sprawling epics, but playing like a short of breath narrative. From the opening notes, it beckoned to me, reminding me of a heavier CLEPSYDRA, and the brief acoustic bridge to "Leaving Here Tonight" seals the blueprints to an album that really gets transitions. While I may have been ambivalent or even hostile towards numbers like "The Bond of Mutual Distrust", I eventually succumbed to the loftier ambitions. The alternating floating and percussive segment before the end of this thrasher make the final convulsions all the more memorable. I had no such misgivings about "Flying/Falling" and "The Collapse", both of which encapsulate all that works here and throughout, including that elusive optimal mix of sung and instrumental passages, from keyboard soaked atmospherics to enchanting variations on vocal melodies.

An album may be, and usually is, a mere a collection of tracks that we listen to and shelve, or it may harmonize our own experience within its grooves. "230503" belongs firmly in the latter division, with a rare gift to offer only those who surrender to it.