_ _______ _ ...:... _ _______ _
___ / .:::::::::::. \ ___
| / .. (:::::::::::::) .. \ |
| . .:::::.`:::::::::::'.:::::. . |
| .::.. `:::.::':::`::.:::' ..::. |
_ _______ | .::' ::::':::::`:::: `::. | _______ _
\\ | | :: `' ::':`:: `' :: | | //
\ | | `:. .::' . `::. .:' | | /
. | | .::::::..::::' ... `::::..::::::. | | .
| | `:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::' | |
.... | | `:' `::::: :: :: :::::' `:' | | ....
| ' | : `. ': :: :: :: :: :` .' : | ` |
|.....: . .......: :: :: :: :: : ...... . : ....|
. ...................: : :: :: :: :: : : ................. .
_____________:_____________ _____________:_____________
_ ___\` __ /_\` _______/_\` __ _/_\` /___ _
// __ / (/ ___/ (/ _ (/ /_______/\
_ _ /_________ ___________ ______/\ _ ______________/\__/_ _
\\\\\_________\__/\_________\__/\_____/\_____/\____________/ ///
- -\-\-----------\__/----------\__/-------\_____/---------------/-/- -
- -------------------: : :. ..:: :: . :------------------ -
: : :......: :: :` ': :: : .....: : :
___ _ | | : ` ' : | | _ ___
_\---------- : | -------- : B E R C : -------- | : ----------/_
/_\ . : . ..:.. ..:.. . : . /_\
/// . . : : . . \\\
/: :\
/:: Artist :: Jupiterian ::\
:: Album :: Protosapien ::
:: Year :: 2020 ::
:: __ _ _ __ ::
-:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:-
:: \ / ::
:: . Genre :: Metal Source :: CD . ::
:: Label :: Nihil Productions R.date :: 2024-04-23 ::
_::__ Cat.nr. :: NPCD-043 S.date :: 2020-09-11 __::_
::// \\::
::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\::
:: ::
/: Encoder :: LAME 3.100 -V0 :\
..: Bitrate :: avg. 264kbps :..
. Quality :: 44.1 kHz/Joint Stereo .
. Size :: 71.02 MB .
. .
http://jupiterian.bandcamp.com/
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: 1. Homecoming 2:09 ::
:: 2. Mere Humans 5:38 ::
:: 3. Voidborn 6:53 ::
:: 4. Capricorn 7:06 ::
:: 5. Starless 7:14 ::
:: 6. Earthling Bloodline 6:40 ::
:: ::
:: ::
:: ------- ::
.. >> 35:40 ..
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ release notes /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: ::
:: Something has always drawn us back to times of prehistory, when ::
:: a world unknowable to us flourished and manifold things ::
:: unrecorded shaped our destiny as a species. Being able to ::
:: glimpse that world even for a moment has cost archaeologists ::
:: and anthropologists countless hours amounting to years. Poring ::
:: over maps, digging into dry earth, dusting off layers of ::
:: powdery soil, and eventually recovering a scrap of bone, we ::
:: have built an extremely rudimentary picture of human ::
:: development and origins. Apes came down from the trees, learned ::
:: to walk upright, became skilled at hunting, meat cultivated ::
:: their brains: we all know that history. But, with a single ::
:: word, Jupiterian posit another possibility: protosapien. And, ::
:: more than that, the Brazilian band, known by their initials, ::
:: paint that possible history into a suddenly very concrete and ::
:: immediate reality. From the incredible cover artwork by Mariusz ::
:: Lewandowski to the thick silt of the songs themselves, every ::
:: inch of Protosapien feels like a stark reveal of natural ::
:: history. ::
:: ::
:: In a sense, the same quartet that recorded Terraforming in 2017 ::
:: (less drummer G, now replaced by P) have stuck to a ::
:: well-trodden path, primal grumbling sludge oozing around the ::
:: rather irregular thump of drums in a similar manner to ::
:: Unearthly Trance and Lurk. In principle, this third full-length ::
:: is largely composed of riffs and some misshapen bridges, the ::
:: deep and booming guitar sound of 'Starless' also lamenting in a ::
:: deathly doom manner not dissimilar to Mournful Congregation, ::
:: while brief moments of propulsion prove that Protosapien is not ::
:: only an album of clanging and scraping sloth. The vocals follow ::
:: another trope of vaguely deathly sludge in remaining deep and ::
:: cavernous for much of the time, croaked and burped out like a ::
:: kingdom of monstrous toads attempting to take over the Amazon. ::
:: As such, many of the components exist for Jupiterian to be ::
:: called a capable atmospheric sludge group: the massive, muddy ::
:: clout of the guitars, the ungainly stagger of the drums, the ::
:: barbarian bellow of the vocals. ::
:: ::
:: In reality, however, Jupiterian feel about as different as they ::
:: come from other sludge ensembles. For starters, everything ::
:: about Protosapien feels like a doom album, those riffs ::
:: beckoning dread from the sheer force of their impact and even ::
:: the intro 'Homecoming' conjuring the spirit of droners Bong ::
:: with its minimalistic cosmic dread. The arrival of 'Mere ::
:: Humans' thrills the nerves as a primal familiarity grates off ::
:: the mammoth dance of its rhythms, and a new reality wraps ::
:: around the listener. Deeper into the album, the overwhelming ::
:: weight of JupiterianÆs music begins to bear down, several ::
:: moments of critical mass forcing revelations through the ears ::
:: and into the mind, such as when 'Earthling Bloodline' seems to ::
:: double in magnitude without changing track, a feat that occurs ::
:: twice before its conclusion. Entirely different from a ::
:: technical perspective but astonishingly similar in the ::
:: experience comes the swirling storm that brews midway through ::
:: 'Capricorn', blastbeats and incensed screams suddenly boiling ::
:: in the rising wind, pinning everything down in the process. ::
:: ::
:: At just over 35 minutes, Protosapien empirically runs short, ::
:: yet the impact and import of the listen would be felt even from ::
:: the first 2 tracks. Granted, the whole experience builds itself ::
:: to the crescendo of 'Earthling Bloodline' in winding fits and ::
:: starts, seeming predestined to arrive at such a denouement from ::
:: the first eruption of guitar on 'Mere Humans'. Of course, such ::
:: a heavily conceptualized release tells its tale in more ways ::
:: than one; pointedly, the largely indistinguishable growls and ::
:: whispers leave final interpretations up to the listener. And ::
:: although the earthiness of the sludge sound and the atmosphere ::
:: of doomy compositions corroborate to form the image of ::
:: Protosapien as the history of a lost human ancestor, the eerily ::
:: quiet opening of 'Homecoming' and the albumÆs cobwebbed artwork ::
:: suggest another possibility û that Jupiterian compose from a ::
:: prophetic angle. If anything, what all the monumental scope and ::
:: overwhelming magnitude seem to spell out is how minuscule, how ::
:: precarious our existence is, while much greater forces are at ::
:: work and have been at work for far longer. Whatever the ::
:: intended meaning behind its gargantuan symbols, Protosapien ::
:: represents a serious step up the evolutionary ladder for ::
:: Jupiterian. We are mere humans indeed. ::
:: ::
:: . _ _ . ::
\: :. \\ ___________ . ___________ // .: :/
__\____ :: ____ ___\ _ / BERC : 2024 \ _ /___ ____ :: ____/__
\\\f3! :: \\\ __ _/_________i_________\ /___/ /// :: cRO///
\ :: :\-\___________\_ ___ / _ _/___________/-/: :: /
:: | . . _ _ _/ __/ . \_ _ _ . . | ::
: :::::::: | | \\\\\/ _______\____|\ \///// | | :::::::: :
:: | | -\-\/____/-------------\____\/-/- | | ::
:: | | \ :|: / | | ::
: : | . ` ::: ' . | : :
. . | : ::: : | . .
| :::....:::....::: |
: ::::::::::::::::: :
. :::''``:::''``::: .
: ::: :
. ::: .
.:.
: