Anubis "Hitchhiking to Byzantium"

Country: Australia
Sub Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Bird's Robe Records
Release date: May 30, 2014
Tracklist: 

1. Fadeout (2:40)
2. A King with no Crown (4:37)
3. Dead Trees (6:38)
4. Hitchhiking to Byzantium (9:44)
5. Blood is Thicker than Common Sense (9:27)
6. Tightening of the Screws (6:51)
7. Partitionists (7:43)
8. Crimson Stained Romance (6:58)
9. A Room with a View (15:51)
10. Silent Wandering Ghosts (7:13)

Line-up: 
Robert James Moulding - Vocals, Bass Guitar, Guitar, Percussion, Additional keyboards
David Eaton - Keyboards, Guitars, Vocals
Douglas Skene - Guitars and Vocals
Dean Bennison - Guitars, Slide and Vocals
Steven Eaton - Drums and Vocals
Martyn Cook - Saxophone, Flute and Trumpets
Anthony Stewart - Bass and Vocals
   With
Rebecca Bennison - Vocals
Katrina Shaw - Vocals
Sarah Schols - Vocals

Description/Reviews: 

This third album, 'Hitchhiking to Byzantium' is the first Anubis album not to have a plot or narrative. It's more of a thematic work, based on modern life. "It's about growing older and trying to do better at things", says guitarist Dean Bennison, "and about the excuses we make for ourselves, all the crutches and braces that we find for ourselves along the way, and how good and bad they are for us". "It's perhaps a little more esoteric than the last two albums", say guitarist Douglas Skene, "although I think at core they all touch upon the same theme - which is what is and isn't important to people in their lives". "You do still get the sense that it's someone" says drummer Steven Eaton, "Someone who is on a journey. And the hope is that when they get there, they're happy with what they've found".

Whilst it doesn't have the narrative cinematic approach, Hitchhiking to Byzantium does have an emotional punch quite unlike anything before on an Anubis record. "Whilst we hid all our very real emotions behind conceits before - haunted workhouses and lost friends - this record is about the things that happen every day" says David. "I feel that there's more of us in there - the hurdles that life throws at us and the only way to feel true inner peace - by examining the love around you. It's certainly an introspective record - but it's real life. It's about you, it's about me, it's about all of us. Hitchhiking to Byzantium. That journey is life." 

Media/Samples 
A King with no Crown

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