Atheist
Jupiter

"The Atheist Challenge the Dead"... After 17 years underground, they had the brilliant idea of resurfacing and taking a swing at Chuck Schuldiner, with an extreme need to announce to everyone "we'll kick everyone's ass!!!".

Let's say this Jupiter is proof that these Atheist have not passed on... I don't know about you, but I have always thought along the lines of, "First the Death, then Cynic, and then Atheist", not for anything, but I've always downplayed Elements quite a bit compared to the masters of the other two! Well, now I think I have to change my version.

Leading is Kelly Shaefer who, even after 17 years, has kept the unforgettable tone of the early work quite well. I must say that it is a bit different, absolutely in a positive way, but different. Chris Baker and Jonathan Thompson handle the guitars, with the latter also playing bass (I'm sorry for Tony Choy). On the monstrously technical drums, we find a certain Steve Flynn (I want his address so I can send him a bouquet of flowers). The latter three are still part of a recent technical death metal group: Gnostic.

Let's get a bit technical: this album can be classified as technical death metal with extremely progressive structures, even worse than Elements. Honestly, I compare it a lot to "The Sound of Perseverance" (the last of Death), sure, absolutely not on the same level, but very close...

From the start, I thought "What a drag, 32 minutes!!! The longest song is 4 minutes!!!" but I can assure you that I changed my mind considerably (because I belong to the Opeth branch: a minimum of 10 minutes for each song).

Another little thing: after a couple of days of starting to listen, a friend asked me:

-"Uè com'è this Jupiter?"

-"Bha!" (because I still had to really individualize it)

-"It's not what you expected...Is it?" (in the negative sense)

And he was right! In the sense that such a formula had totally escaped my prediction... I never expected such a thing! Stratospheric!

The drums are very complex and definitely stand out (very similar to the latest Death), the rest is the normal Atheist, while the bass, well I must say it's not exactly excellent (as in the previous one) but still used in good doses. I sincerely hope they get back on the right track from now on.

Like every review, I always try to read the lyrics,... and this time I did. Well, I must say that I also liked them thematically, you can find the deepest and most philosophical and also the most banal and fun:

"Second to Sun" can be translated as "second to the sun", "second" can stand for both "unit of time" and "order"... But I think it's more logical to support the second, because in the case of the first, the song should last one second. And indeed Jupiter is second only to the sun in size, what a coincidence. Anyway, the song is about people who believe more in the Sun (as a deity) than in God... and why? (here I'm ashamed to say it) because "without all the fire that the Sun emits, no one survives".

"Fictitious Glide", literally "Fictitious Glide" I didn't quite understand, but it still regards a social and spiritual decline of a certain person.

"Fraudulent Cloth" literally "Fraudulent Garment". In particular, "Cloth" is the ecclesiastical robe, the one worn by priests. In fact, the song denounces (as one would expect from Atheist) pedophilia within the church. But still very good.

"Live and Live Again" I didn't quite understand this one either, but I see an approach between living and industrialization, understood as destruction of nature.

"Faux King Christ" translates to "False King Christ", "faux" is French and don't ask me why. No need for comments, you should guess what it's about, especially from Atheist.

"Tortoise the Titan" "Tortoise the Titan" is probably the funniest of the album. The track takes the ultra-proud perspective of a turtle and its philosophy on slowness. Formidable.

"When the Beast" this one is also very funny. It tells of a huge lion that shows off and lists all its admirable physical traits. I'm really not sure it's a lion, but given the presence of paws and the animal's arrogance, I think it's a lion,... maybe one of the two on the cover...

"Third Person" illustrates a state of spiritual growth. It says that this time there was better attention, better assembly, etc. Also, there is the following sentence "7300 sunsets have passed since the last time we exploited that source". And so I did some calculations and found out that 7300 days are actually 20 years. 20 years ago was around November of 1990... "Unquestionable Presence" was released in 91,... and "Elements" in 93, so it doesn't work... maybe with "Elements" it would have been perfect but it should be 2013... what a disaster,... these 20 are really annoying me... then the phantom "third person" I can't find anywhere, what a shame.

This is more of a propaganda manifesto than a review, the highest score will be 2, but who cares.

So let yourself be captivated by this WILD JUPITER!!! Wild like the fight between the two lions on the cover (illustrated by a certain Eliran Kantor, who also designed "The Formation of Damnation" by Testament, etc.). The scream voice drowning in a pool of blood, song by song. Impossible time changes and rhythms from another world!!!!!!! In which "keeping time" is optional.

For the very old fans of Atheist there's a possibility they could take this Jupiter as "the final blow" for a dying band... but I like it a lot.

I've said everything.

I hope you like the review and especially the album.

We'll hear from each other again in... elev...20 and... 2017! Yes, 2017... but at least I'm certain it will be a good album...