After 17 years of waiting finally a new studio album from technical death pioneers Atheist has hit the shelves in stores all over the world and it will be no exaggeration to say that, for my part, it has been one of the most eagerly anticipated issues of 2010.

Thus it is quite easy to be disappointed when expectations are so high and so long time has passed since the three first now essential releases way back then.

With that in mind I will dare to say that unfortunately Jupiter is not on par with their first three albums. I feel Jupiter belongs in a category for itself, not a top tier classic among metal albums but way above most of the stuff that is churned out nowadays. Thus I am not afraid of giving this album a very high rating, because even a mediocre release from Atheist is still top class material.  

I guess it is needless to say that the musicianship is very complex and the playing is of course flawless. The vocal work from Kelly Schaefer is still as full of character and with an impressive range.  Furthermore Atheist has been successful in creating a coherent album in a style that often will end up being patchy because of all the influences and ideas contained within a single piece of work.