Q&A with Anuryzm’s Nadeem Bibby

We chat to the Abu Dhabi-based prog-metal group Anuryzm's singer Nadeem Bibby about their upcoming album All Is Not For All and their supporting slot for Black Sabbath.

Nadeem Bibby, left, and John Bakhos of Anuryzm. Charles Moussa

After slaying audiences locally and abroad, including a prized slot supporting Black Sabbath last year, Abu Dhabi-based prog-metal group Anuryzm return with a double taste of their upcoming album, All Is Not For All.

The recently released singles Humanoid and Depolarized showcase the breadth of the band's musical palette, with the former riding on a heavy groove, while the latter is a more contemplative, yet equally intense, affair.

Vocalist Nadeem Bibby explains that the eclectic choice of singles to release was ­deliberate.

“We wanted it this way to show that we like exploring different styles and themes,” he says. “It’s about showing we can do a lot of things, and not just being pegged as a heavy band.”

All Is Not For All – your second album after 2011's Worm's Eye View – is out next month. What can you tell us about the sounds you are playing with?

The main difference between the records is that on the first, we basically rehashed some old ideas and tried to modernise them. I think that’s why it sounded a little bit all over the place. With this one, we took our time to make something from scratch that we really felt sounds like us today. This is the modern Anuryzm sound and I had a lot more input into the sound and creativity surrounding this record.

Despite Worm's Eye View sounding a tad disjointed, as you mention, it did its job in establishing the band locally and internationally. What hopes do you have for the follow-up?

This one will really seal the deal, I think, because the foreign labels and distributors we work with in America and Japan have heard it and they are already placing orders for it. We are more serious in the business aspects of this record – not that there is money in this, but generally we know what we want to do.

Lyrically, Anuryzm take on big themes – what are the main topics of discussion in All Is Not For All?

The album title is really talking about how you can’t have your cake and eat it, too. It also talks about the nature of power and saying that with great power come great responsibilities.

There are sci-fi themes in many Anuryzm songs. What is it about sci-fi and heavy metal that goes so well together?

It’s about that whole notion of the final frontier. We are living in a time now where we are thinking about the future and what lies beyond. I think metal music, which has this big epic sound, goes really well with that. And this is why you also see the music being involved in movies and video games.

In May last year, Anuryzm supported Black Sabbath at Yas Island’s du Arena. How was the experience of meeting your musical heroes?

On one hand, I was the fan and I couldn’t believe I was talking to Ozzy Osbourne and telling him that his was the first concert my dad took me to see in 1996. But what grounded me was the fact that I was there to get the job done and focus on our show. We had to go out there and deliver a good show and please their fans because it wasn’t our crowd, necessarily. I think we did a good job because we sold a lot of merchandise and people came to ask questions and take photos with us.

Is their any kind of music or artist that you listen to that might surprise fans of the band?

I would have to say Prince. For me, he is the master musician and an amazing human being. You know, I wouldn’t even call him a guilty pleasure. He is probably the artist I listen to most. I don’t listen to much heavy metal in my personal life.

Humanoid and Depolarized are available now on iTunes. For more information about the band, visit www.anuryzm.com