Jupiter // Legends never die with “Zeus”

We’ve been covering Jupiter’s releases for quite some time now, so the band doesn’t need a big introduction at this point, do they?
Last August the band released their first single with the new lineup of the group, titled “Theory of Evolution”. Consisting out of three songs the group revealed the skills of their new vocalist KUZE, followed by the “Wind of Evolution” DVD that came out shortly after in early October.

One of the highlights of this DVD was the inclusion of KUZE singing “old” Jupiter songs that were originally composed for the previous vocalist ZIN, and a little preview of that will return on this album as well. But what can you expect from the album overall? Is Jupiter still recognizable as Jupiter, or has the addition of a new vocalist changed the band entirely into a new version of themselves?

More on that in a moment, because Jupiter will be going on a European tour between May 9 and May 19. More information can be found on their website, but we do want to point out that the group will make a stop in Rotterdam on May 10. More information about this show specifically as well as tickets can be found on the website of the venue, Baroeg, here.

 

“Legends Never Die, but the SHOW MUST GO ON”

“New World Order” is an instrumental song composed by HIZAKI, serving as a powerful introduction to the album with it’s powerful and opera-esque style before clearing the way for “Theory of Evolution“, which was previously released as it’s own single. Both the words and the music for this song are also by HIZAKI’s hand, but the version found on the album is a re-recorded version of the original without any significant changes. (Since we discussed this single in detail in the past we’re not going to discuss it here.)

“Beyond the Horizon” is the first new song on the album, and KUZE’s vocals are extremely versatile in combination with the powerful riffs produced by HIZAKI and TERU, giving “Beyond the Horizon” a powerful layer from two different sides by combining different genres through KUZE’s voice reaching a different range than ZIN was able to do previously. We’ve mentioned this before, but the choice to recruit KUZE as the new vocalist really opened doors to other genres than just metal – something that is only underlined by “Beyond the Horizon”.

“Drastic Night” marks the third song in a row to come fully from HIZAKI, but does clears the way for a different style than the album has presented us so far. Overall the song is more aggressive than it’s predecessor, but also takes more influence from the classic metal style – allowing KUZE to once again demonstrate the versatility in his vocal range by following high and low notes right after one another almost seamlessly.

“SHOW MUST GO ON” is the first song that is a collaboration between KUZE and TERU, and thus shows a completely different style than HIZAKI’s compositions immediately. TERU took a completely different approach in this composition by incorporating more of the “western” heavy metal scene, something KUZE can handle perfectly, even in the higher pace. In addition to being the “heaviest” (we use this term very loosely though!) song on the album, the lyrics are also completely in English.
It also marks the first music video of the album, which highlights the English lyrics with a simple décor. The simplicity in music videos Jupiter does lately is a little different than some other groups in the scene, but it is also a welcome change to shift the focus from the extremely polished visuals to the music instead, don’t you think?

 

Jupiter // “SHOW MUST GO ON” (MV)

 

Following the high pace of “SHOW MUST GO ON”, “Straight into the fire” adds more of the familiar symphonic influence to the album, going for the more theatrical approach with a background choir before KUZE displays the higher ends of his vocal range. The classic metal influence also returns heavily in this song, but not just through KUZE’s vocals. HIZAKI and TERU manage to add the essence of fire into the song, while the fire added by KUZE’s vocals might just be a different kind of fire, if you know what we mean…

Up next is a collaboration between KUZE and HIZAKI, in the form of “Angel’s wings“, which was also released previously on the “Theory of Evolution” single. It was somewhat surprising to us that the group chose to include “Angel’s wings”, but not “Bring me out”, which was the third song on that same single. Much like “Theory of Evolution” earlier, the version on this album also appears to be a re-recording, but again without any significant changes compared to the original.

Continuing the collaboration between KUZE and HIZAKI with “No cry no more“, KUZE limits his vocals to about the middle of his range in order to create high and lows that lure the listener into the beautiful melody.
However, we believe that the only way to experience this song is to listen to it, because we’re having trouble putting it into words…

“Tempest” returns the album back into HIZAKI’s hands with a very fast song that highlights the guitar styles Jupiter is so well known for, but also allows KUZE to use a more aggressive vocal style mixed with his clean vocals as well as the occasional high notes.
“Tempest” also has great potential for live shows, by being the perfect choice to build hype and energize the audience. Don’t you think?

Previously released as it’s own single while ZIN was still the vocalist of the band, “The spirit within me” is a rather interesting choice to include on the album. But at the same time it’s another display of KUZE’s versatility. We already had a bit of a preview of how KUZE handles songs that weren’t originally composed for him through the “Wind of Evolution” DVD (where KUZE sang “TEARS OF THE SUN”, “ARCADIA” and “Guilty as Sin”), but a live version gives a different image than a studio version does.
While you immediately hear it’s a different vocalist singing the song, KUZE manages to get close enough to the high notes ZIN produced in the original version to keep the familiarity, yet give it his own signature twist at the same time.

“TEARS OF THE SUN” is another song that was originally composed for ZIN’s vocals, but much like the previous track of the album, KUZE’s version gives the song a new layer without making any major changes in the composition that would render it unrecognizable. While both vocalists are completely different in sound and style, they both manage to deliver an entertaining performance for the same song, allowing the band to play both their “old” and their “new” songs freely during live shows.

The rock-style ballad of the album goes to “Memories of you“, which is also composed by HIZAKI. Another opportunity for KUZE to show off his range, but despite the classic rock and metal influences we feel like his vocal style struggles with this style of composition more than he would with the other, faster paced songs on the album so far.

Finishing off the album is a song that technically exists out of two parts, but comes together as one track. “Zeus I. Legend Never Die/II. Conversations with God” can be divided into two parts, something that also happened with the first music that was revealed before the album’s official release date. “Legend Never Die” set the bar quite high with it’s melodic opening and quick riffs, both being very familiar aspects for Jupiter if you glance at their works so far. Much like “SHOW MUST GO ON”, which we mentioned earlier in the review already, the music video for the song has a simple décor that forces the viewer to focus more on the music and the members than any fancy scenery. Again KUZE’s vocal style compliments the composition very well, and much like he did when “Theory of Evolution” first came out his voice is the final ingredient for a song that is worthy of a movie soundtrack.
The second part of the song, “Conversations with God” changes both the style and rhythm of the track by taking away a large portion of the symphonic influence Jupiter often uses, but adds the more powerful rock ballad style to symbolize the voice of God throughout the remainder of the track. While it might not be a signature style we often see for Jupiter, it serves as a great ending for an album that marks the new era of Jupiter.

 

Jupiter // “Zeus I.Legend Never Die” (MV)

 

 

Conclusion

Jupiter once again delivers a powerful, solid album that doesn’t hyper-focus on a single style, but instead tries to include the diversity and skills of each member. The main focus might be on the dual-guitars and the vocals, but by adding symphonic-, classical- and progressive metal into the mix with KUZE’s more classic (hard) rock oriented vocal style Jupiter’s new era is packed with possibilities for future releases.
Unlike previous releases the majority of the album was (co-)written by HIZAKI (meaning that normally we see more songs credited to for example TERU than we did on this release), but new vocalist KUZE also put in his fair share of influence on the album – possibly more than ZIN did in the past.

If you’re a long time fan of Jupiter I would definitely recommend listening to the “new” versions of the songs that were originally composed for ZIN, as KUZE’s influence gives a completely different vibe to these songs.
Overall Jupiter showcased a different style than they usually do with “ZEUS ~Legends Never Die~”, but they definitely cleared the way for themselves in the future. KUZE is here to stay, and he is ready to take on the world with his vocal style, backed up by HIZAKI and TERU’s signature guitar style, and DAISUKE’s powerful drums.

 

Release information

Did this review spark your interest into getting your own copy of this release? In that case we’ve listed some information below to get you started:

	01. New World Order 02. Theory of Evolution 03. Beyond The Horizon 04. Drastic Night 05. SHOW MUST GO ON 06. Straight into the fire 07. Angel's wings 08. No cry no more 09. Tempest 10. The spirit within me 11. TEARS OF THE SUN 12. Memories of you 13. Zeus I.Legend Never Die/II.Conversations with God DVD: 01. SHOW MUST GO ON (MV) 02. Zeus I.Legend Never Die (MV)
	01. New World Order 02. Theory of Evolution 03. Beyond The Horizon 04. Drastic Night 05. SHOW MUST GO ON 06. Straight into the fire 07. Angel's wings 08. No cry no more 09. Tempest 10. The spirit within me 11. TEARS OF THE SUN 12. Memories of you 13. Zeus I.Legend Never Die/II.Conversations with God

Artist: Jupiter
Release: ZEUS ~Legends Never Die~ (album)
Release date: April 3, 2019
CD number: POCS-9190 (limited edition) / POCS-1778 (regular edition)

 

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