Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
Perth, Australia’s contemporary, progressive metallic-tinged Jupiter Zeus has returned with a new EP, ‘Eyes On The Prize‘.
The six-song offering dropped in early October and is the highly intriguing follow-up to the band’s 2014 full-length outing, ‘On Earth’. For the latest recording, Jupiter Zeus, aka Simon Staltari (Vocals, Guitar), Aaron Smith (Drums), Jeremy Graham (Bass), and Michael Lawson (Lead Guitar), collectively continue their genre-mashing sonic journey.
From incendiary guitar-driven thrash to atmospheric, hypnotic psych rock, along with the intermittent progressive metal elements, this EP is a full-fledged, fantastic statement.
With simmering, speed metal-ish numbers like the opening title track “Eyes On The Prize“, with its incessant uptempo energy, there are no less-than-astounding moments captured here. There are doom-influenced nuances in other killer cuts like “Read It And Weep“, ones offset with galloping drums and pulsating rhythms.
All of the vocals on the EP are superb, primarily straightforward cleans, but abundant guttural growls and periodic all-out aggressive turns, too. There is a trio of tunes that really stood out for me on the EP, the first of them being the crunching duo of “Saviour With Destruction” and “Arise“.
Both of these are stellar stand-alone’s that delve into the band’s heavier side, the latter especially taking on some phenomenal points of aggression. Its vocal turns arrive at brief times of unrestrained density and an almost Kirk Windstein (Crowbar) similarity.
The epic, beautifully melodic, and alluring EP-ending “Broken Plates” may be the pinnacle upon ‘Eyes On The Prize‘, in my opinion. It sets itself apart from the other content with its fluid, cohesive tranquility, and peaceful magnetism. It never breaks from this approach and really ends the EP on a powerful high.
I suggest you experience it – hell all of it, this latest from the Aussies in Jupiter Zeus, their ‘Eyes On The Prize‘ EP, via the Bandcamp embed below. The band is definitely one of the more unique bands to surface on my recent radar. One that is utterly well worth your time, effort, and energy, in my opinion.
