
It may have already been 5 years since the exceptional “Faith in Physics”, with dozens of concerts across Europe and certainly many new fans, but Planet of Zeus remain committed to delivering fresh music that takes the band several steps forward. The same goes for “Afterlife”, which brings together the elements we’ve loved all these years in their music, along with some very distinctive riffs that I don’t think we often hear even from the most modern bands.
The in-your-face energy that hits the listener from the first notes of the opening three tracks already puts us in a live show mood and leads to endless headbanging. If someone put a gun to my head to choose, I’d highlight “Step on, Skin off”, mainly for its inventive lyrics, though I’d feel guilty leaving out the two other incredible tracks, “Baptized in his Death” and “No Ordinary Life”. And just then comes “The Song You Misunderstand” to slow things down—a mid-tempo composition with a great melodic chorus you could easily sing along to at your favorite bar on a Saturday night.
“Bad Milk”, on the other hand, with its Queens of the Stone Age aesthetic, could effortlessly fit into the backdrop of a lap dance scene in a Tarantino film. Beyond the exceptional work and original ideas on guitars and rhythms, we hear Babis on vocals pouring his soul and vocal cords into every note, sometimes screaming louder than ever, and other times interpreting in ways we’re not used to hearing from him. This peaks with the final track of the album, “State of Non-Existence”—a slow, heavy sludge swamp that builds in intensity as it progresses, gifting us one of the best choruses on the record.
On their sixth album, Planet of Zeus sound fresher than ever, securing a spot among the best albums of 2024 while, above all, exceeding expectations for both their old and new listeners alike.