Edinburgh band Tiberius have crafted an engaging fusion of anthemic rock, progressive metal and hooky metalcore in a sound they describe as “thought-provoking chaos.”
The quintet of Grant Barclay (vocals), Jahan Tabrizi and Chris Foster (guitars), Ryan Anderson (bass) and Nick Kelly (drums) gradually met through a combination of school and mutual friends. Chris and Grant have known each other for 20 years and shared a flat in Edinburgh after the former finished university. Ryan and Grant studied music at college in Edinburgh at the same time in around 2009, and Jahan lived near Chris and Grant, also knew Grant through college, and met the trio at a party in 2017. They went through a few rhythm section changes but eventually completed the Tiberius lineup with Nick coming on board.
On the sound they’ve honed since, Chris tells us: “It’s metal, it’s technical at times, and borderline pop at others. It gets epic, it gets weird, we’re singing about everything that’s wrong with the world but we might as well have a boogie while we do it.”
Our latest taste of this is their new single Tip Of The Spear, which was released earlier this month. It opens up with a cool spinning guitar over chunky riffs and cymbals, which drop into a lively opening verse led by Grant’s engaging vocals. A big cry of “Your ignorance is visceral” tees up the chorus of “Keep me afraid of what they might do, Keep me afraid I belong to you: feed me please, my oracle,
Keeping away my intrusive thoughts, Preaching all day: let me get lost! Feed me please, my oracle.”
The pace drops after the second verse with mellow vocals and a light piano support. Heavy guitars and rolling drums kick in as it bursts into a big chorus to bring the track to a dramatic conclusion.
On the track, Jahan told us: ” For those already acquainted with us, you can expect a finely crafted amalgamation of all the elements that make Tiberius what it is. Driving, anthemic, politically charged lyrical content and, of course, two-handed tapping! For those of you new to the fold, we want to tell you how terrible the world is inside a Trojan horse of fun riffs and catchy choruses.”
Tip Of The Spear precedes the release of Tiberius’ second album Singing For Company, which will be released in March. On the album, Chris said: “I’m hugely excited to see the reaction to the singles and then the release of Singing For Company. There’s a lot that will be familiar to Tiberius fans, but I can honestly say I think everything about this new release is a huge step forward for us – we’ve really honed in on what makes Tiberius work and I can’t wait to see the reception.”
And Ryan added: “ I can’t wait for people to hear it! Everything going well, the fact that we’ll actually be able to support the release with live shows and not be scuppered by a pandemic is also a rather lovely thought.”
The new single and album are the band’s first releases since their debut album A Peaceful Annihilation (2020) and the following single Of Sheep And Wolves (2021). The album is a wonderful listen packed with great tracks like Leviathan, Fidelity Lost, a personal favourite Dissipatem, the dramatic final track Kaituma and Mechanical Messiah, which you can check out in the video below:
The video above is a good example of Tiberius’ independent approach. As Jahan explains: “One of the things we’re immensely proud of is how DIY we are as a band right up ’til now. We handle the majority of music videos ourselves, we don’t have a label or a manager or anything like that. So everything that you see is off the back of our own graft. That’s not to say we’d never work with a wider team though, so if you’re reading this and you manage Iron Maiden, for example, give me a call… please… I’m really tired.”
And Chris adds: “The music videos are predominantly my handiwork and there’s some really cool stuff out there (I think!) and more to come. So I’d definitely urge people to check those out on our Youtube channel and go deep into the Tiberius cinematic universe. Also, if you haven’t been to a Tiberius live show, I highly recommend it. I’m biased, but I think it’s a very good time.”
The Tiberius sound is shaped by a wide range of influences and musical tastes, from modern metal and classic rock to funk, soul, Americana, classical music and soundtracks. For example, the debut album’s opening track New Subjugation features a full-on disco section.
Digging deeper, Ryan is big into bands like Protest The Hero, Coheed and Cambria, Stevie Wonder Iron Maiden, System Of A Down, Dream Theater, Killswitch Engage, Karnivool. Jahan draws influence from guitarists like Nuno Bettencourt, John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, Aaron Marshall and Luke Hoskins and is currently big into the new Bilmuri album, Vola, Thrown, Ithaca and the latest Unprocessed album. And Grant listens to a wide range of music, including Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Iron Maiden, Protest the Hero, Cory Wong and Arcane Roots.
And on what inspires them to write music, Jahan explains: “In short, the world around us. We’re influenced by the political and social issues affecting not just ourselves but others. For example, on this album we look at the dangers of right-wing podcast pundits such as Alex Jones, the hubris of billionaires like Elon Musk and white saviorism all packaged up with fun riffs to fend off the existential dread!”
Tiberius’ second album Singing For Company will be released on 21 March 2025. That’ll be supported by special album release shows in early 2025, along with a mini tour in the Spring. You can also see the band at RADAR Festival in Manchester in July.
You can follow Tiberius on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music and YouTube.
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