TIBERIUS - A Peaceful Annihilation

TIBERIUS

Album: A Peaceful Annihilation

Genre: Progmetal

Release Date: June 26th 2020

Country: UK

Label: Unsigned

Band Links: BANDCAMP INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK

On 2/3 July, UK Tech-Fest presented its “At Home” edition because of the current pandemic, featuring a bunch of young, talented bands and musicians. Each band was introduced with one song and a pre-recorded video, showing them playing at home. This format made things very interesting, and I discovered some great new bands through this.

It’s still available on youtube and worth to check it out. Day 1:

Day 2:

One of those bands was TIBERIUS from the UK. I wasn’t familiar with them before, but their performance of “Mechanical Messiah,” a song from their previously released debut album “A Peaceful Annihilation,” really impressed me because of their technical skills (and it was lovely, as they all played wearing bathrobes 😊). So I headed over to Bandcamp to give them a closer listen, and I really liked what I heard. You can watch the video here:

Their music is best described as catchy, contemporary progmetal, with djent driven rhythmic, and clean vocals. The rhythm section pushes the songs forward, the bass is very present and brings in the needed pressure. The vocals are clean, without those djent screams (fortunately), singer Grant Barclay shows a great vocal range. The two guitarists deliver lots of sophisticated playing, so if this is your cup of tea, you should lend them an ear.

My favorite songs are “Mechanical Messiah,” “Dissipate,” and “Kaituma,” as they all have something special to offer. “Mechanical Messiah” shows the technical and the creative side of this band, “Dissipate” is a bit heavier and darker in tone. “Kaituma,” the final track, starts slow with a dark vibe, before the song gets faster again, very percussive and powerful.

At some points, I miss a bit of variety in the song-writing. The technical abilities of these 5 guys are awesome, and it’s a worthy contender for my BAZ June pick. But more changes of pace and mood would make the album even more interesting, as some songs sound pretty similar, and the guitarists’ finger acrobatic would get more well-deserved attention I guess, if there would be less of it. Nevertheless, “A Peaceful Annihilation” is an impressive debut album. The powerful songs are catchy and musically sophisticated at the same time. Check them out.

Written by Katha