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Anubis, the Egyptian God of Death, is the name of this fascinating band hailing from cold Lithuania, specifically from Kaunas. The father of the project is Lord Ominous (who passed away on March 30, 2002), and alongside him, there is a wide range of collaborators; among guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, electronic programming, saxophone, accordion, and more, a myriad of instrumentalists alternate with each other, while the Lord handles the vocal parts.
After various Demos, in 1997 Anubis delivered their first Full-Length "Kai Pilnaties Akis Uzmerks Mirtis", and right from the first listen, the album proves to be an extraordinary piece of work. From the vocal point of view, a clean voice and a scream intertwine throughout the duration of the tracks, the language is the group's mother tongue, so the lyrics are entirely in Lithuanian, but despite the lack of comprehensibility, they have no difficulty in captivating the listener's mind. The instrumentalists are truly exceptional, and all the sounds blend into a truly amazing amalgamation, none is put in the background, the bass plays a fundamental role in both rhythm and solo phases, the keyboard sometimes suddenly pops out energetically with an almost jazzy style, at other times it softly accompanies the listener within the track, the wind instruments create dreamy melodies, generating truly engaging soundscapes like in the stunning "Á Naujà Galybæ", one of the album's highest points. The compositions are varied and well crafted, shifting from moments of melancholy to moments of true schizophrenia, in others the music seems so orderly and simple, as in the instrumental "Ir Saulë Neteko Savo Pusës Veido", that it almost evokes the experience of an obsessive-compulsive disorder to be lived alone curled up in a corner of a cold, damp room, a single guitar riff repeated to the point of mental exhaustion and alienation. An album capable of delivering euphoria or awakening the ghosts we all try to suppress and hide, seemingly nonsensical interludes like the very brief "Folklorinë Daina Apie Mirtá" bring a solemnity and antiquity taste within the album as if to recall that God of a past civilization, but never forgotten, 50 seconds of a return to the past with the mind in a catacomb or the basement of a pyramid, through what seems to be a true hymn to the deities.
Each track is unique, a story in itself, it lives its own life, yet at the same time, it seems meaningless outside the consecutio temporum that distinguishes it in the album, everything is designed for the emotions to follow in a certain way, in a predetermined order set by the Lord, or perhaps by Anubis who, having possessed his human mind, allowed him to put into music what is found in the realm of the dead, making it comprehensible to the living. All this reaches its peak in the closing track "Tarp Akmens Ir Veidrodþio", a long 15-minute descent into darkness, a slow and gloomy prayer that seems endless, words recited over a Dark Ambient background, subdued screams rise from the depths, seeming to offer help, imploration, but perhaps it's only the resignation of being forever trapped under the power of Anubis, a solitary, bleak, and icy saxophone accompanies us to the end, there seems to be nothingness, a minute of silence, and then what is unexpected, a disconcerting keyboard finale anything but dark and chilling, perhaps placed there intentionally to wake the listener and bring them back to the real world...
More than an album, a true journey that those who love these sonorities cannot miss.
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