ATHEIST: JUPITER (2010)
1) Second To Sun; 2)
Fictitious Glide; 3) Fraudulent Cloth; 4) Live And Live Again; 5) Faux King
Christ; 6) Tortoise The Titan; 7) When The Beast; 8) Third Person.
Honestly, I am not quite sure that what the
world needed most in 2010 was another Atheist album. The relatively small
fanbase that these guys had in their prime had almost certainly dissipated, and
a seventeen-year break between studio recordings could only mean two things:
either this would be a formally nostalgic venture, or they would try to
«modernize» the old sound by taking hints from the modern metal scene. Neither
of the two perspectives sounds particularly thrilling, especially when you're
talking about a «tech death metal» band whose old bag of tricks used a million
different ways to always puncture the exact same emotional nerve and no other.
Additionally, even on a formal level this is
quite a different band from the old Atheist. The only constant link holding
most of the discography (bar Elements)
together is drummer Steve Flynn, whose style and enthusiasm have not shifted a
bit: fills, rolls, and punches still keep flying in all directions, capable of
shifting from thrash to progressive polyrhythms and back in the blink of an
eye. Shaefer, on the other hand, is no longer playing even rhythm guitar; his
participation is limited to songwriting and «singing», and the «singing»
suffers quite a bit from the demands of modern production — it is less echoey
and much more upfront now, so it rather feels like a rabid guy is just spitting
directly in your face, without a single whiff of «demonic presence» or whatever
it is that textbook death metal vocals are supposed to convey.
With two completely new guys handling guitar
and bass duties, Jupiter has its
Atheist credentials somewhat diluted from the very beginning. Of course, there
can be little doubt about the basics: it is going to be a heavy, brutal, loud,
professionally played and recorded metal album, although, curiously, quite
short at that (running just over half an hour; not that «classic» Atheist albums
were much longer, but one could expect a shift here, considering that the
record was almost five years in the making — or, at least, in the planning).
But take one step beyond the basics, and disappointment might set in pretty
soon.
First and foremost, there is no bass on this thing. Well, technically
speaking, there is, but, apparently, Jonathan Thompson was so busy laying on
additional layers of guitars over the regular guitar guy (Chris Baker) that he
all but forgot about his primary duties. For a band whose basslines were
always just as important as the regular guitar parts — it was always the rhythm
section, after all, that provided most of the jazz links — this is a staggering
setback; if this was some sort of deliberate move (to make the album sound
«different»?), it was a stupid one.
Second, the guitar sound also suffers from
«purified» modern production. Where the guitars once used to be hellishly low
and deep (not a unique trait of Atheist, of course, but a solid trademark of ye
goode olde metal), now the pitch is higher and the sound waves seem shallower, never
enough to drag you down to the depths of Hell with them. And Baker and Thompson
represent this rather typical breed of modern guitar players: each note played
to utter perfection, all the fast and complex parts performed to the
unanimous-jury grade of 10.0, but without any inborn ability to create
meaningful atmosphere.
Add to this a complete lack of diversity — not
only is the album completely devoid of any stylistic twists (acoustic
interludes, keyboard flourishes, etc.), but almost each song follows exactly
the same pattern: double-tracked guitars hammering out some complex,
unmemorable riff, eventually drifting away into generic thrash territory, then
going through one or two time signature changes just to remind us of the band's
legacy. In short, more or less the same they were doing in 1989 on Piece Of Time, but with the «benefits»
of sanitized production, bass elimination, and an even more annoying vocal
presence.
Basically, there is just no need for this album
these days, not when the «intellectually-oriented» crowds have all the comforts
of heavy math-rock like BATS, and the easier-going metalheads have... uh, I
won't even be starting on that list. The not-so-sad truth, the way I see it, is
that Atheist had their brief three seconds of glory in the early 1990s, but
now it's just too late — for Jupiter
to be credible, respectable, or enjoyable in an above-the-ordinary way, we'd
have to have a miracle on display, and heavy metal bands are generally slow on
miracles once they have already established their thang. Thumbs down — although, if «tech-thrash
metal» is the one wavelength that truly sets you spinning, feel free to
disagree with that rating, because, in the end, it just reflects my opinion
that Jupiter has no soul to it, and how
could we ever prove that?
Check "Jupiter" (MP3) on Amazon
"Honestly, I am not quite sure that what the world needed most in 2010 was another Atheist album."
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I am very sure that what the world needs most on Saturday August 11th is another GS review - what about piece in Syria?
Still I greatly enjoyed reading it - like I did yesterday and hopefully will tomorrow. I just wanted to point out that this kind of first sentence easily can backfire.
Now you address one important point specialisation. Since at least 20 years - but the process, gradual as it is, has begun much earlier - hardrock/metal bands close themselves in in a very, very small niche. They have one (sometimes a few) nice idea - I'll give them that - and exploit it album after album. If they do "develop", it's by removing a characteristic element, not by adding something new. The result is an absolute lack of diversity.
Another fine example, beginning with an A, is Avenged Sevenfold, a band my son liked a few years ago. I must ask him if he still does.
In principle I like that stuff. But song after song the same pace, the same sound, the same emotional reaction stirred up is very tiresome. And their albums last 50 minutes or so.
Compared to this the albums of Deep Purple Mark II are miracles of diversification.
Touché, but amend that line to "Honestly, I am not quite sure that what the world needed most to pay for in 2010 was another Atheist album" and I'm in the clear again.
DeleteI have no interest in listening to Atheist, but I have so speak up for DP II, MNb. The reason that Purple and other bands of their ilk could keep fans and listeners interested within a limited formula was the talent was more consistent. Purple's secret? Five words: The Late Great Jon Lord. Gillan in his prime was inimitable, if a bit of a screamer, and Blackmore was a skilled showman, but the soul of Purple was anchored in the classically evil, monolithic keyboards of Lord. You knew Deep Purple the minute you heard that overdriven organ, and even if every song was similar, the spirit of the music pulled into its awesome depths.
DeleteNo need to speak up for DP II as far as I'm conerned.
DeleteIan Gillan in his prime is my favourite vocalist.
Ritchie Blackmore is my favourite guitarist - and I [i]vehemently[/i] disagree that he was just a skilled showman. Visit John McFerrin's site for my opinion on this.
Jon Lord is my favourite keyboardist as long as he stays away from synths.
Ian Paice in his prime has become my favourite drummer the last few years.
I bought Made in Japan 35 years ago and only got more impressed the more I listened to it.
My remark referred to GS' old reviews; I am pretty sure he got it.
What's more, I am willing to argue that DP II composed quite diverse music. But I'm going to save that for another day.
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ReplyDeleteI don't really have any opinion on this album. I just wanted to say that if I'm not mistaken, the next 90's artist you'll be reviewing is Autechre, so I expect to spend my Saturdays with my finger over the F5 button for the next few weeks. Don't disappoint me, George.