Cloud Over Jupiter -
Jupiter Rising: 5th Mass From The Sun


(CD, 2015, 65:20, Private Release)

The tracks:
  1- Happy Hands(7:33)
  2- Love Still Remains(6:19)
  3- King Beat: Paradise(4:15)
  4- Voyage To Titan(7:04)
  5- 13(5:43)
  6- Black 41 / Black 42(6:04)
  7- Rat Salad(3:39)
  8- Blak 43(5:50)
  9- Turnaround/Jupiter Rising(8:12)
10- Beyond the Oort Cloud(5:09)
11- That Red Guitar(5:31)

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Another new name for me. Cool name though. Cloud Over Jupiter hail from the United States, Winconsin state to be more precise. They are led by multi-instrumentalist Jerry King and featuring Michele King on vocals and Bill Jungwirth on percussion, and a number of guests appearing on the CD.

The CD opens very un-prog with the percussionist banging on various percussion instruments, possibly kitchen items. After a brief period of hitting pots and pans he gets in some kind of a groove the rest of the group joins into. First guitars join in, then a somewhat distorted voice. There are very clear and obvious King Crimson influences while the female singer has a jazzy tinge. King Beat: Paradise introduces a male singer who alas has a somewhat flat voice. Soundwise we go even more towards King Crimson style music. Voyage To Titan opens with country-like guitar, but these are quickly replaced by weird experiments (and when I say weird, I do mean very weird!) with percussion and effects after which more King Crimson-like guitars emerge. Towards the end we go back to country guitars. Rat Salad is VERY King Crimson-like with spacey effects and blurbs. I was surprised to learn that it is actually a Black Sabbath cover. The best has been kept for (almost) last. Turnaround/Jupiter Rising starts calm and dreamy. The female vocals add a special melancholic touch and the electric guitars appear to be played backwards and forwards at the same time which gives an interesting sound. Around 3:15 minutes the piece picks up pace briefly, as it will do later for some more rocky approaches with cool guitar until we launch into an upbeat finale. Beyond The Oort Cloud is an exciting instrumental with great guitar and a bit like King Crimson meet Dream Theater. Closer That Red Guitar finally is a fairly simple guitar rocker that first brings bluesy hard rock (do I hear some Jimi Hendrix there?), but then turns to male country singing. Not necessarily the best track to close this CD with, I thought, until the track dissolved in a bit of space rock.

Definitely not a CD that will appeal to a very large audience, I think. For many this CD will be too experimental and little melodic. People who love the angular side of King Crimson, or can appreciate bands like Gordian Knot, however, will probably have a lot of fun with this disc. Hard to rate, let's say a cautious three stars for this release.

*** Carsten Busch (edited by Astrid de Ronde)

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