Lead singer, Devin Reiche, of Los Angeles metal band Anubis answers 5 deep questions about the band in this exclusive interview.
Concert Crap: “The Great Divide” is a killer song that we know has to do with the “old sci-fi story from the ‘90s about an avian alien race split into two factions”, but do you see any correlation that is happening in today’s political atmosphere with the pandemic and other divided points of view?
Devin Reiche: Oh no…. ohhhh nooooooooooo…… I assumed nobody would pay close enough attention to the lyrics to notice that! Hahaha
Officially, Anubis is non-political. But unofficially, virtually everything I write has some sort of double-meaning, particularly the stuff in the fantasy, mythological, or horror realms. If you feel like anything you hear from us ties back to some real-world event in some way, you’ll almost always be right.
Thanks for the compliment by the way!!
CC: Why did you choose to remake “Ashes”? Why do you feel it is a better version now? Can we expect more b-sides from Anubis in the future?
DR: I actually haven’t been singing for very long, and in retrospect, I don’t think I was ready to record the original “Ashes” EP when I did. I know that everyone hates the sound of their own voice on recordings, but the vocal performance on that EP is just amazingly bad. Ashes also happen to be one of the songs we have the most fun playing, so it seemed to make sense to record an updated version with the current lineup and my current skill level. I’m sure that at some point there will be updated versions of all the songs on that EP. I still really like the actual material, it’s just that the vocal performance makes my butt hairs stand on end (other than Sawicki’s growls on Devour. THOSE sound awesome). Seriously, I can’t listen to that EP for more than a few seconds.
If anyone wants a demonstration of why I have more faith in this lineup than any lineup we’ve had before, as well as in my own skills as a singer and lyricist, simply play the two versions of Ashes back-to-back. I feel like that’ll speak for itself.
CC: How did the band meet and what brought you all together?
DR: The previous lineup had just fallen apart because both the guitarists were too dedicated to their other projects for it to make sense for them to continue in Anubis. Justin was someone I knew from his previous band Tower Guard and had been after him for a while. When the time was right he hit me back up. Eleazar is his friend and (I believe) schoolmate, and our drummer Zed is someone who I’ve known through my circle of friends for a while, and he actually played at our first show ever filling in on drums.
Suffice it to say that I’m utterly thrilled with the level of dedication and talent that these guys bring in. I’ve mentioned before that in previous lineups pretty much every other member has had another band that they considered their priority, and it always ended up feeling like a solo project. This lineup feels like a legitimate band through and through. Our next EP has pretty much everyone’s creative voice in almost equal prominence, and every member is skilled enough to bring in a level of technicality that was only hinted at in previous songs. I’m totally stoked for the future with these dudes.
As tempting as it can be to find a total shredder and want them in your band, the ancillary shit they bring with them matters. Shit like: do you get along in real life? Do they value deadlines? Hell, if you’re a touring band, even something like “does this person snore really, really bad?” can be a dealbreaker. Not taking these things into consideration is a borderline guarantee that your band will end up in the rock equivalent of Development Hell.
CC: Anubis recently played a show at the Whisky A Go-Go in Hollywood. How did it go? Can you share a highlight of the show? What other shows do you have coming up?
DR: It went great! I always love playing the Whisky. The sound guys are always super easy to work with, the venue is super tightly-run, and the turnout is always good. I had done a European tour with Raven in my previous band Hatchet, so it was awesome seeing the Gallagher brothers again.
We’ve got one show in Apple Valley, one in San Diego, one opening for Monochromatic Black at the Doll Hut in Anaheim, and we’re trying to get a show up in San Francisco. Next year the plan is to hit surrounding states. Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, etc. We’ve even been talking to a band from Texas about shows. Gotta aim high when it comes to getting out there.
CC: What new music is the band working on and will there be an album in the near future?
DR: Right now we’ve got an EP entitled “Eternal Youth, Eternal Night” that’s only missing a few drum tracks before it’s ready to be sent off to mixing and mastering. Hopefully, it should be ready before the end of the year. With every member now doing as much writing as they want to, we’ve got at least two more EPs worth of material written, so we plan to pretty much remain in writing/recording/releasing mode indefinitely.
As for an album, we’d love to do one if the right record deal were to come along. But until then it doesn’t make a lot of sense for us to disappear for a year and a half recording a full length that no one will end up hearing because we haven’t been in the public to generate any interest. Albums are a huge time and money investment, and local, unsigned bands doing them with no fanbase and no outside always felt like skipping over the most important steps toward building your band. This is even assuming that album format will even continue to be relevant in the future, and based on trends I see, it could very well not be.
But as I said, if the right deal came along we’d be thrilled to do one. God knows we aren’t going to be lacking enough material for one any time in the near future.
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Post and interview by Corey Kleinsasser
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