Release Date: 2023
Label: KNH Records
Description:
The sophomore release from The ANABASIS is a concept album in the rock opera format. The Battle - An Opioid Story brings the listener inside the tumultuous and at times horrifying world of drug addiction. It tells the story of a family's epic, multi-generational addiction struggles with raw, gritty imagery and a compelling narrative that serves as a cautionary tale to those who look down upon addicts as failures. It calls us all out for perpetuating the stigma that accompanies addiction, despite the unambiguous position of the medical community that addiction is a medical issue, not a moral issue.
Musically the album is quite diverse and has a somewhat heavier overall sound and vibe as compared to the first album, Back From Being Gone (10t Records, 2011). Click through the tabs here to learn more about the artists who created this album.
Barry Thompson
electric guitars, bass guitars, mandolin, Navajo pan flute, trumpet, tenor saxophone, clarinet
Barry Thompson is a multi instrumentalist who plays guitar primarily, but has also been known to dabble in some piano, drums and saxophone. He began playing music at the age of 10 when he took clarinet lessons in grammar school to escape the horrors of glee club and discovered that like his father before him, he had an aptitude for music.
In Junior High School, at the urging of the musical director, Barry switched from Clarinet to Tenor Saxophone, which he played in both the orchestra and the marching band.
By the time he was a freshman in High School, Barry had come to realize that girls were much more interested in a guy with a guitar than a guy with a sax. So, with a few lessons from his grandfather (an accomplished guitarist himself) before long he was playing some of the songs on the radio on his first acoustic guitar.
Barry's interest in other instruments waned for many years as he focused exclusively on guitar through his 20s and well into his 30s. This culminated in the formation of The ANABASIS - which is a 100% studio music project.
In 2004 Barry was a co-producer of the noted charity music project "The Tsunami Projekt" and he also appeared on Lee Abraham's excellent second album, "View From The Bridge" which also featured such notable UK prog musicians such as Karl Groom (Threshold) and Martin Orford (ex IQ).
Barry's musical influences range from bands such as Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings, and Kansas to Iron Maiden, Opeth, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath.
He lives in Brockton, MA (USA) with his wife Sandie, his mother Sandi, his two dogs - Pebbles and Bam-Bam - and his Congo African Grey Parrot, Oscar.
George Andrade
concept, lyrics, arrangements
George Andrade wrote the book & lyrics and was Co-Producer for "AIRS - A Rock Opera" by Brockmann/Andrade (Fencesound Music). He also developed the concept, wrote
the lyrics, and was Executive Producer for "Back from Being Gone" by the progressive metal band The ANABASISP (10T Records).
More recently, he has developed the concepts and written lyrics & narratives for the Norwegian rock/metal vocalist and songwriter PelleK on his albums "Ocean of Opportunity" and "A Marvelous Method of Reclusion".
He has written novel reviews for Horrornews.net, reviewed albums for Progarchives.com, and has provided critical readings of screenplays for independent screenwriters (most notably by Sean Ryan). He is listed in both the Locus Magazine Author's Index and the ISFDB (Internet Speculative Fiction Database) for his short story "Clowns", which appeared in HAUNTS Magazine #18 (Spring 1990).
He has also been an Artist-In-Residence for Very Special Arts Rhode Island, where he taught screenwriting at Dorcas Place in Providence, RI, whose mission remains to assist low-income adults in realizing their full potential through literacy, employment, advocacy and community involvement. He also wrote, produced and directed the short film "Supports" for Vision Cable in Pawtucket, RI, which won a RI Cable Award for "Best Entertainment/Variety" in 1992.
When last seen in the "private sector" (where they expect results), George was an assistant football coach at Mt. Hope High School in Bristol, RI (2012-2015); before that he managed the Children's, Teen, Family & Childcare, and Education Departments at Barnes & Noble in Middletown, RI.
Presently, George is writing a screenplay for PelleK (tentatively titled “Formally, Norskogen”) and researching his own massive, multi-book project called “Cloth Heart”. He has also begun work on the follow-up album to “Back from Being Gone” by The Anabasis.
He is the husband of Nicolette Collard-Andrade (24 years) and the father of Leigh Nicole (33), Taylor Evan (29), Dustin Joseph (27), and Hannah Kubrick (17). Phew.
Jeroen Hendrix
keyboards, piano, synths, orchestration, arrangements
Jeroen Hendrix is a Dutch keyboard-player. After studying classical piano for 10 years, he started playing synthesizers. Among his teachers are some well-known keyboardists like
Derek Sherinian and Jordan Rudess. Jeroen's style is based on his classical background combined with progressive and rock elements. Through his online recording service www.keyboardtracks.nl Jeroen records keyboard work for bands and musicians all over the world.
In 2019, Barry Thompson asked Jeroen to become the full-time keyboardist and pianist for the international studio project, The ANABASIS and they began working on the follow up to 2011's critically acclaimed "Back From Being Gone" on which Jeroen played keyboards on two tracks.
Jimmy Keegan
drums and percussion
Jimmy started playing at 10 years old. A few months after receiving his first drum set he landed a TV show alongside the late River Phoenix. A few months later he was doing
theater in LA as a cast member and musician. By 14 he started his first band Polo that would end up in regular rotation at Disneyland as well as winning "Starsearch" and performing on numerous telethons. By 18 he had started getting calls for sessions and tours. It expanded from there. “I was lucky to have a huge family with all kinds of music playing at all times. As I grew as a musician, I just continued that trend of listening to everything. Consequently, I get calls from R&B artists as often as rock, pop and country artists.” From Santana, John Waite and Kenny Loggins to Tevin Campbell to Tony Orlando.
In 2003 Jimmy began touring with Spock’s Beard alongside fellow Aquarian artist Nick D’Virgilio. 2012 saw Nick leaving and Jimmy taking over as the full time drummer with the release of "Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep" and 2015 with "The Oblivion Particle." Now on to new territory, A solo album coming and a new band Pattern Seeking Animals. The future is here!
Brick Williams
6- 7- and 12-string electric and acoustic rhythm guitars, lead guitar
Brick Williams is the founding member, primary songwriter and plays all guitar parts for prog/metal masters Hourglass, whose latest album, "Oblivious To The Obvious" was
recently voted "Album of the Year" for 2009 on www.perfectprog.com.