SHADOW OF JUPITER ~ PORTA COELI ... review

One would imagine that the gas giant Jupiter casts a considerably large shadow so it would make sense that a band calling themselves Shadow of Jupiter would have an equally big sound, and they do. Shadow of Jupiter, John Piotrowski (vocals); Colin Peterson (guitars); Scott Brakebill (bass) and Adam Kazragys (drums), are no new kids on the block these are musicians with a rich musical pedigree who bring to this project influences that range from death metal through to the avant-garde and all stops in-between. With Shadow of Jupiter however the emphasis is on jamming a more stoner/doom/heavy psych dynamic, a dynamic built not just on riffs but also on atmosphere and texture, all of which are major components of their debut release "Porta Coeli"

Shadow of Jupiter's "Porta Coeli" could probably be called a "doom album" but to call it just that would be doing it an injustice, there is so much more to this album than just doom. The album starts with title song "Shadow of Jupiter" a moody intro piece featuring dissonant droning guitar textures and is then followed by "Majesty", three minutes of funkalicious hard rock fronted by a vocal that oozes the sort of gritty soulfulness usually associated with bands from the classic rock era. Next up is "RAVEN" a mid-tempo doomster with a bluesy underbelly, the songs lyrics a cryptic cry for peace framed by a dark and heavy, yet seductive groove. "Daisy Cutter" begins life atmospheric and moody then erupts into a groove that sits somewhere between heavy metal and proto doom and boasts one of those recurring guitar licks once favoured by the likes of Budgie and UFO, the songs lyrics a rant against the world's injustices delivered in the form of a prayer. "Fate of Nations" finds Shadow of Jupiter directing their ire at those who will happily trade other peoples misery for their own gain, a sort of "War Pigs" for the now generation played out to a soundtrack of atmospheric doom metal. Final track "Bleeding Out" tackles our own mental health and the pressures put on us by a broken world, Piotrowski telling us in grave tones of how he has to "try each day to improve as a man" and "force a smile while they snuff out the light", Peterson enhancing the songs feeling of melancholy and misery with droning guitar textures and swirling dark solos ably supported by Brakebill's thick booming bass lines and Kazragys' pounding solid percussion.

The word that comes most to mind while listening to Shadow of Jupiter's "Porta Coeli" is "class", there are no endless screeching guitar solo's or sudden plummets into brutality, that's not to say these guys could not do that if a song asked for it. The songs are what is king here and these consummate musicians dress those songs to perfection with a level of musical competency more akin to that of jazz musicians. This is an amazing debut from a band we are sure to hear more from in the future.

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