SECOND TO SUN

It's clear; the boys from Atheist are back.

Taking the death metal world by storm almost twenty years ago with such technical masterpieces as 'Unquestionable Presence' and 'Elements,' Atheist were innovators of the progressive death metal scene early on, and rose to underground fame as pioneers of 'jazz- metal fusion.' Years later, we have been gifted with another offering from these Florida metallers. This single off of the new album 'Jupiter' is a promising peek at the album, and evidence that Atheist hasn't lost their touch over time.

The most evident thing here is the improved production from Atheist's classic work. While underground metal has never been the scene that depends greatly on studio polish, the nice production job makes each technically attuned note crystal clear on a speaker. The actual composition and performance is typical of what you might expect from Atheist, so it should appeal to the existing fans, as well as bring a new generation of fans into reach. Over the course of the song's four minutes, a wide variety of riffs are used, keeping things fresh and feeling very over the place (a positive note for progressive death metal), despite the tightness of the band's craft. The only real concern here is that of the vocal work, and more specifically; the lyrics. While lyrics usually matter little in death metal, it's easy to notice that the lyrics here are very simple and annoying, to the point of shedding a potential layer of the music's depth. Lyrical techniques such as repeating the song title again and again does that lend itself well to a technical metal soundscape... In any case, those who can look past the lyrical shortfalls are in for a treat; the instrumentation itself is fantastic.

After listening to this, I eagerly await 'Jupiter.' While a single track is obviously not a representation of the entire album, the band's technicality and musical skill is shown here in full, meaning they haven't lost their tact over the years. Atheist have certainly lost no steam over the years, and hopefully 'Jupiter' will reflect that consistently.

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