ANTHERO, a symphonic power metal band from Indonesia which was formed on September 13th, 2017 by Dady Saputra, Ari Wijaya and Rhona Batosay. It all started when in August 2017, Dady Saputra invited two of his friends, namely Rhona and Ari Wijaya, to work on several songs he had written. Rhona and Ari are members of the band BATOSAY from Ciamis which has gone on hiatus. As time went by, he felt there was a match between them, then Dady took the initiative to form a band by collaborating with them, and ANTHERO was formed.
After previously releasing their debut album “Satria Persada” in 2019, now ANTHERO is back by releasing a demo mini-album on May 24th, 2024 on their YouTube channel and here Metal Opera tries to review it briefly.
As an opener with an instrumental song entitled “Intro“, a short song but with an epic orchestra and continued with the song “Sang Petarung“, as my wild expectations regarding the title of this song were appropriate and very far from disappointing. This song opens with an orchestra that feels quite majestic and epic accompanying behind it combined with a typical power metal guitar rhythm and Rhona’s high-pitch vocal character which we know is very inspired by Michael Kiske (HELLOWEEN) and Arul Efansyah (XREAL, ex-POWER METAL) , the character of the two legendary vocalists is deeply embedded in him. In the solo part of this song, fast guitar melodies color this song and in other parts a combination of two guitarists Willy Damien and Ari Wijaya harmonizes beautifully and gives an aura of enthusiasm. The powerful drums continue to roar along with the orchestra that always accompanies them far behind throughout the song.
The third song “Arogansi Penguasa” with a quite heavy guitar rhythm colors the beginning of this second song with a symphony that continues to fill in at the back combined with guitar melodies. The tempo is slightly down compared to the second song, but this song still feels powerful with the vocalist’s high-pitch screams. The chorus of this song is very catchy and powerful and the stunning guitar melodies are still included in this song.
The song “Duka Negeri” opens with a majestic orchestra continuing with power metal guitar melodies that bring enthusiasm combined with powerful drums. Vocals with high and shrill notes are heard repeatedly. Guitar solos filled with melodies and encouraging notes continued to be heard. The chorus of this song quite reminds me of the song “Chasing Shadows” (STRATOVARIUS).
The song “Lupa Diri” with an orchestra like TWO STEPS FROM HELL or ANTTI MARTIKAINEN can be heard at the beginning of this song. A typical mid-tempo song with pounding drums like the song “Black Sheep” (SONATA ARCTICA) with interesting double bass drums and light and catchy guitar melodies.
“Corona Virus” the song starts off quite surprising with typical power metal music and a magnificent orchestra far behind. Heavy metal guitar rhythms can be heard in the chorus of this song, and again, the solo part has stunning guitar melodies and is able to pamper our ears with catchy guitar melodies.
In closing, “Dragon Knight” is an instrumental song which at first I thought was a full orchestral instrumental, but it turns out this is a melodic symphonic power metal instrumental song which is full of a magnificent orchestra, fast guitar melodies and powerful drums and in some moment I felt a bit of a neoclassical feel and at the end of the song I felt there was a bit of a guitar melody like the song “The Dark Ride” (HELLOWEEN).
Overall, the second album or I could say the second pre-album ANTHERO musically presents a work of music that will pamper the ears with stunning melodies and a magnificent orchestra. Even though it is still in the demo version, this album can be a reference for fans of bands such as HELLOWEEN, POWER METAL, STRATOVARIUS, FAIRYLAND or SONATA ARCTICA.
TRACKLIST:
01. Intro
02. Sang Petarung
03. Arogansi Penguasa
04. Duka Negeri
05. Lupa Diri
06. Corona Virus
07. Dragon Knight
LINE UP:
Rhona Batosay – Vocals
Willy Damien – Guitars
Ari Wijaya – Guitars & Orchestrations
SCORE:
Music: 8/10
Production: 5/10
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068854230544
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@antheroofficial
