PRAC Discussion Thread: Anubis, "A Tower of Silence"
 

This is a thread created for discussion of the album referred to above by the members of the Prog Rock Album Club. Anyone can join in, but please try to have something constructive to say, and please make sure you have listened to the album at least once before commenting. Discussion will commence when all PRAC members have heard the album and have indicated they are ready to begin talking about it.
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No that's fine. People can review if they want, but generally we're kind of moving away, or hoping to, from that format, with people just posting ideas, impressions, notes etc and we discuss them back and forth.

FTR, the album's story is actually heartbreaking and if I remember correctly concerns the haunting of a prison/orphanage by a little girl who was brought there very young, died there and her soul is now trapped within its walls. Seems there is no god and she will never be rescued, and mostly the lyrics concern her recounting her story and wondering if she will ever be freed, wondering what she ever did to deserve such eternal loneliness and punishment, and I think her mind remains that of a child, even though her body has long since turned to dust.

Mind you, the stunning choral vocals at the very end seem to indicate the angels arriving to take her to Heaven, so it may have a happy ending, but I know it's made me cry (yeah yeah, wimp I know!) more than once while listening to the lyrics and the way the music perfectly complements them is fairly rare, even in a prog rock album. I'm amazed a band this unknown could put out such an incredible album, though of course I'm expecting some of the other guys to say what do you find so great about this album; maybe everyone will not be as blown away by it as I was.

Anyway thanks for the comment and once the others get through listening we'll hopefully have a better discussion about it.

Interesting band: sort of like a more overtly symphonic Motorpsycho. I like the story and the easy flow from cut to cut, but I dunno...the album has a slight plodding quality to it that dulls the overall listening experience for me a bit. That being said, the title track has a cool Floydian mood about it (with plenty of flute and Mellotron: a nice plus). Liked 'The Holy Innocent' a lot too, especially the sax over the last few minutes.

I guess for me, I'm looking for some kinda obvious "oomph" factor in my modern prog. Bands like Moon Safari have their mindblowing vocal harmonies, Big Big Train have former Genesis vocalist front-runner David Longdon at the mic and a full-fleshed brass band accompanying the main group, Brother Ape have a Yes-meets-Rush-meets alternative rock energy, Subsignal have an incredibly charismatic lead singer, etc. etc.

I think these guys could go far if they could bring in some kind of "x factor" into their core sound, because while the songs are alright the overall execution is missing the distinctive power of their more "popular" peers. Its that elusive factor that separates the Tier 1 guys from everyone else, but these guys don't quite got it yet.

But again, I'll cut any young band who are trying to craft pure symphonic prog fun over in the Land from Down Under a lot of slack. There's definitely some great stuff here. Especially when they pull out sax and flute despite those things not being trendy in any genre outside of jazz or fusion nowadays.

I'm pretty interested in hearing everyone else's thoughts in any case. Maybe I'm just not emotionally resonating with Anubis enough here?

Listened to it at work, but that never goes well since I can't really turn it up, then came home and gave it a proper listen. Here's some real-time thoughts:

Anubis - Tower Of Silence

The Passing Bell
This behemoth sets the stage for whats to come. A bit droning, but I can see how it's a necessary evil to give the listener a bit of passage into the story-line. That change from C to A is very effective.

Archway Of Tears
A bit more uptempo. Not too fond of the 80's flangy guitar on the solo (of course I'll be looking at the guitar playing mostly), but more of the same droning just a different approach.

Final Resting Place
The melancholy drone shines through this one again. There's that prog change at the end. Ok.

A Tower Of Silence
Good arrangement here, but I'm getting a bit bored. Nice vocal harmonies though. Holy crap... how long is this song? Ok, at 7:20 something finally happens. *grabs guitar*... Nice guitar solo, love the reverb laden effect. ...and softly out.

Weeping Willow/And I Wait for my World to End
Very Jon Andesron-ish... There's some rain, and then... the prog kicks in. Good bass line. They really like to stretch their rythyms out don't they. A bit of some Floyd style (megaphone) vocals here at the 6:00 mark. Nothing wrong with that. Mode changes are cool too.

The Holy Innocent
Pushing the envelope here with a hint of some Patton-ish vox. Strong organ impact on this at the onset. I can clearly see some Gilmore influence in the solo. Kind of 'Animals' era. More drone though... then the sax saves it. Kind of.

All That Is
The use of flute/synth carrying into the heavier riff is cool. Alright, some different tempo... finally. Ending on a pretty good guitar solo, and some chorus/synth after that.

Final thoughts:
I can appreciate the theme and the vibe of it, but it's really not something I'd pursue. The emotional connection that some may have with this is a great thing to be a part of, but for me it's just a bit boring, and I couldn't wait for it to end.

Well it's been a week since I listened. I will listen again as this discussion continues and try to recall my thoughts. I recognized many of the guitar solos as very Gilmour'esque, mirroring Anteater's association with Pink Floyd.

The vocals were, largely, unappealing to me. You've probably heard this complaint from me before, but I tend to be picky about vocals. I think I don't appreciate much when people sing in their talking voice. Occasionally throughout the album, the singer gets into his singing, and starts to develop character and I liked that, but for the majority of the album, the singing was forgettable.

I didn't pay much attention to lyrics, as I was grading student's homework as I listened, so it was melodic and rhythmic content that I recognized when it stood out. But this is normal for me anyway unless I happen to hear a really good line that's linguistically and conceptually appealing - then I start paying attention.

I guess nobody was as impressed as I was with this album. I was just knocked over by how well it was put together, being from a relatively young and unknown band. Xurtio, pity you didn't listen to the lyrics, as I find those a huge strength of the album. I see the Gilmour influence definitely, but personally see that as a good thing.

Well, I guess nobody's going to have much to say about the album at this point. Maybe whoever is up next would like to select a new one?

"Return of the King"? Meh, not quite! Ingrates! ;) :shycouch:

I know, I'm too late as always. But I have to say I really dug this album. I am so inundated with new music right now I feel like i'm not giving any of them enough of a listen but this is one I want to go back and dig in on. The David Gilmour references are spot on and that guitarist should be paying royalties to him. But having said that, he has great chops and tone and it works. I think I was most impressed with the vocals and they reminded me of someone I could not figure out. But really liked the singing throughout. I listened to it a few times at work and really focused on the music textures and melody. Now I want to go back and listen for the lyrics. I'm a sucker for a good concept album and I like the theme of this one. Have to spend some time in headphones with this one.

Glad somebody liked it!
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I liked a lot of the ideas in A Tower Of Silence though. I was just a bit underwhelmed I guess by how they tried to weave it all together. :wave:

@Trollheart, i enjoyed the gilmouresque leads and many of the soundscapes that underlied them, didn't mean it as a negative.

I enjoyed listening to Tower of Silence, but when I started writing about the album, it came out negatively, largely because of the Floyd influences (which are a double-edged sword). I also wrote a lot, making it more like a review (it was the only way I could write it at all). I attempted to post a draft here, but as I was not entirely happy with my own comments and as you prefer not to have reviews, it will probably be better in my journal - if I get it finished.

Australian bands are interesting when they play in a British/American style, because they are geographically 'isolated' and introduce an added 'dimension' for the want of better words.

Thanks guys, but nobody should worry about offending me or disagreeing with my opinion of an album. After all, I've had very diverse opinions on the albums others have lauded here. Also, if you want to do a review you can; there's no problem. I just thought a discussion-based thread would get more participation, and put less pressure on people. Oddly, it seems you've all gone the other way and written up articles about the album. Well, whatever works I guess.

That's a benefit of the discussion style, you can do either :)

I have posted my review in my journal (should anyone be sufficiently interested to visit), as it is probably too verbose for this thread.

It was not easy to write as I do not know Anubis very well, while the tracks have numerous parts and time signatures played on unexpected instruments. They are also peppered with Pink Floyd references, some of them cunningly diguised! As a result, my review came out more negatively than I intended. The last thing I would want to do is project a negative aura on an Australian progressive rock band.