NEW ANUBIS INTERVIEW: "It's a trap question James!" (Gresik Power Metal) (with Daniel Valerian)

Left to Right: Disto Anubis (drummer), Daniel Valerian, and Dimas Valerian

Our interview with Yudha and Disto of ANUBIS (Gresik Power Metal)

By: Kieran James, Dimas Valerian, and Daniel Valerian

Interpretation by: Dimas Valerian

Expert comments by: Dimas Valerian and Daniel Valerian

Date: 6 December 2014 @ Daniel Valerian’s house, Jemursari, Surabaya

ANUBIS is: Fahmi (vocals), Adit (guitarist), Disto (drummer), and Yudha (bassist).

Kieran James (Busuk Webzine): Please tell us the history of the band. I know you contributed your song to the Indonesian Power Metal Compilation CD which we have just heard.

Yudha (bassist ANUBIS): The guitar player made the band not us. He made the band with the drummer. They are the origin. The vocalist and guitarist have now left the band. The vocalist and guitarist have now left the band. The vocalist and guitarist were replaced.

Yudha Anubis (bassist) and Dimas Valerian

KJ: Dimas, what is your comment about this band?

Dimas Valerian (VALERIAN guitarist): I think ANUBIS is a new and young band. They are amazing, James, because they remember me and VALERIAN right from the beginning. It is not easy for young people to love PM and HM music in the midst of DM, hardcore and extreme-metal genres. I hope that they don’t give up.

KJ: Yudha, you are the bassist not only for ANUBIS but also for DM band OSIRIS from Sidoarjo. Which do you love to play most – DM or PM?

Yudha: It is complicated. I like both genres equally. Before I played DM I played prog-metal since junior high-school and DM since senior high-school.

KJ: Which genre is most difficult to play as bassist?

Yudha: They have different difficulties but I find technical DM is most challenging for me personally. I play in OSIRIS, tech DM. My drummer also played prog-metal since elementary school. He played IRON MAIDEN, DEEP PURPLE, and GUNS’N’ROSES.

KJ: What is your experience contributing to Indonesian Power Metal Compilation CD?

Yudha: It is difficult to find PM genre nowadays. Most people choose BM and hardcore. I found it amazing and exciting. I thought it was gone but no it exists.

KJ: Did you choose the song for the compilation album?

Yudha: We gave one song, we chose the song. That is the only song which has been recorded.  We have three songs but at that time only one had been recorded.

KJ: Are you happy with that song?

Yudha: Yes. It was the first song that we recorded. We have to learn everything about prog-metal genre as it is not simple. We play all time signatures; it is not simple.

Disto (drummer ANUBIS): That song is difficult to play.

Yudha: It is really challenging for him especially for the tempo.

Dimas Valerian, DIsto Anubis, Daniel Valerian

KJ: What is the meaning of the lyric?

Yudha: It is about a fantasy or philosophy about someone that has a mind who thinks about everything that needs to be done. It is about a man who thinks about the world.

KJ: What are your favourite PM bands from Indonesia?

Yudha: We have VALERIAN, they are senior, and they have great musical concept.

Disto: They really inspire us.

Yudha: They inspire us to make songs for the mini-album; and we really like DEVAROCK from Sidoarjo.

KJ: How many shows did you play so far?

Disto: Once every two months.

Yudha: Once every three months. This month we play two gigs, tomorrow in Jombang [Jombang Metal Blast, 7 December 2014 feat JAGAL and DEVAROCK] and one more in Gresik.

KJ: What is the reaction of the crowd to your band?

Yudha: Most people who heard ANUBIS songs really like it but most people don’t understand about the PM music. They really like the songs. We play in inixed-genre shows usually. For me I find every genre as equal to the others.

KJ: What are your favourite foreign PM bands?

Yudha: SYMPHONY X [USA].

Disto: ANGRA [Brazil].

Yudha: HANGAR [Brazil] and also SONATA ARTICA.

KJ: Are there any keyboards in your sound?

Yudha: Yes, but he departed in middle of 2012. That song you heard was not the original. We edited some keyboard solos. Before we recorded this time the keyboardist had already left.

KJ: In PM it is unusual to have only one guitar player. Do you want another guitarist?

Yudha: We had a plan but now we think it’s enough to have one guitar player only. We realize that if we don’t use another guitar player it’s hard to play in the show. On the recording side it’s not really a problem but in the show it is rather complicated. If you watch NECROPHAGIST [Germany] with only one guitar player it’s going to be awkward.

Dimas Valerian: Nowadays in the metal industry in Indonesia the trend is not going to PM and HM. Do you think you can compete and what is your strategy?

Dimas Valerian and Yudha Anubis

Disto: We should keep moving and playing the shows. We need to make songs. I think “to compete” may be the wrong word. We just enjoy what we play. We at ANUBIS do not really take the minority status of the genre seriously. We only play what we like. If we don’t like the music we play it will just be terrible.

Yudha: Don’t ever play in the show to make money. Don’t make the band as your primary job [laughs].

Dimas Valerian: I will add, James, that we must stay humble.

Yudha: Yes, that’s right. We must stay humble and keep a low profile.

KJ: Did you think of combining PM and DM musically like Ralph Santolla when he played PM-style guitar solos in OBITUARY and DEICIDE music?

Yudha: For me personally I wrote that ANUBIS song. I made the bass solo as inspired by NECROPHAGIST and OBSCURA [Germany]. When we hear the lead guitar solo my guitarist is inspired by Jeff Loomis from NEVERMORE [USA].

KJ: What about in OSIRIS? Will you incorporate PM aspects in the music of OSIRIS?

Yudha: No, they are tech-DM only. Playing in ANUBIS and OSIRIS are two different things. They each play their own style so I just adapt.

Dimas Valerian: If you must choose ANUBIS or OSIRIS which one will you choose? Each musician must have a primary band. Say for JASAD the primary band for these band members is JASAD.

Yudha: It’s a trap question, James! Off the record, please [laughs]. If you ask me which band I’m going to choose I’m not going to choose.

Dimas Valerian: It’s like you can’t choose two wives. It’s the same. Yudha is crying, James [all laugh].

Yudha: I don’t know!

KJ: What is your plan for the future?

Yudha: We plan to record an EP with five or six songs. It is completely far from finished. We have one song which has been recorded. We have two songs which are not recorded.

KJ: Tomorrow?

Yudha: Our own song, one from DREAM THEATER, and one from SYMPHONY X. Each song has a long duration of 8-11 minutes. The SYMPHONY X song is the longest.

Yudha, Disto, Daniel, and Dimas

KJ: Will the two cover songs be part of the EP?

Yudha: No, no.

Dimas Valerian: Ballad song?

Yudha: No, we don’t have one.

KJ: Do you hope to have a ballad song in the future?

Disto: We think so but it is a new experience.

Yudha: It is not an easy thing. It’s about the feel. That is the hardest part.

KJ: Do you like to have any guest vocalist, such as Ridwan Valerian, for the album?

Yudha: We hope so. We want to have a feature with VALERIAN, such as guest musicians. They are inspiring us.

KJ: Can you cover one VALERIAN song?

Yudha: Yes, we want to cover one song from Dawn of New Hope EP [2009]. We want to cover “Arise”, the first song from Dawn of New Hope.

Daniel Valerian (VALERIAN keyboardist): When will the album be released?

Yudha: It’s going to take time, James.

Dimas Valerian: You must have a target, 2015.

Yudha: No, that’s too short. It will really take some time. That question is a trap too [laughs]. You trap me a lot this time.

KJ: Daniel, what is your comment about ANUBIS?

Daniel Valerian: I like the music. It has powerful and good quality but I don’t think so about the vocalist.

Yudha: We have to learn a lot more.

Daniel Valerian: The vocalist has a lot of homework to do.

Yudha: The vocalist was nervous. It is the first time he recorded. It’s normal I guess.

Dimas Valerian: VALERIAN did it too. ANUBIS has a unique style of PM. It is different from VALERIAN and DEVAROCK. That’s the good thing.

Yudha: VALERIAN is completely melodic PM.

KJ: What is the language of the lyrics? I have to ask because I couldn’t understand a word.

Yudha: The language is English but the pronunciation needs some improvement. It is not easy to practice English if we do not practise it every day.

KJ: Do you think the vocalist should be louder or is that part of his style?

Yudha: I understand why he is nervous. It is the first time he recorded that. He has potential. He is getting better every day. He is not as bad as what everyone thinks.

Dimas Valerian: I saw ANUBIS last year and he is getting better.  He is getting more confident I think he can get better and better. At one last show Ridwan [VALERIAN vocalist] gave advice to the vocalist and this is one reason why he gets better and better. It’s alright; everyone makes mistakes the first time. He has quite a potential.

KJ: What are the two cover songs that you play?

Yudha: DREAM THEATER, “Panic Attack”. It is really difficult; it is eight minutes long. It’s from the Octavarium album [2005]. The other song is SYMPHONY X, “Iconoclast” [from the 2011 album Iconoclast]. It is ten minutes long and nearly eleven minutes.

KJ: Have you got any other original songs you can play?

Yudha: No, only one. Our progress is quite slow I guess.

KJ: Because you have two bands?

Yudha: No, because we don’t just want to make a simple song. It is not about the difficulties. If one of us feels it is not their style then we change everything.

KJ: Is there any message for your supporters?

Yudha: No. But I have a message for Busuk Webzine: Stay humble, stay crazy, and keep supporting every genre in the Underground. I know Busukwebzine.net is new and it is fresh [because before you just had the blogspot].

KJ: Did you ever think to get woman vocalist?

Yudha: It is hard to get female vocalist in Gresik; it may be possible in Surabaya. We don’t want to just get hot chick vocalist to become famous. That is not the way we are. Not many chicks like PM music or EM music.

Daniel Valerian: Just because they like it does not mean they know the song or they know the band.

Yudha: That’s right. Not many people really understand what PM is; and it has a long and complicated history.