Description

2018 release featuring all 4 albums with Atheist

Disc 1: Piece Of Time 1990
Recorded in 1988, Atheist’s first album, Piece of Time, had a huge impact on the death metal scene, which, at the time, could be said to be enjoying its peak years. A death album as conceived from a jazz-rock aesthetic, its unpredictably shifting tempos, non-linear riffing progressions, and sheer technicality did as much as any release of the era to push the genre’s boundaries, breaking through preconceived limitations and preempting similarly adventurous contemporaries like Cynic, Pestilence, and Death (who had yet to become at all seriously progressive). One listen to brain-twisting creations like “Mother Man,” “Room with a View,” “On They Slay,” and “I Deny” — meshing frantic, severely discordant chords and sparse melodies with the agonized growls of frontman Kelly Shaefer — and realizing they still stand up to scrutiny following the many repeat listens necessary to absorb them, is enough to prove this assertion. The title track is another fine example, as it threads a dizzying path through sudden stops, starts, and turnarounds before finally unleashing a small taste of straight-ahead, 4/4-time thrashing at its conclusion. Also worth pointing out is that most of these tracks were initially composed by the Roger Patterson/Steve Flynn rhythm section, with guitarists Shaefer and Randy Burkey only subsequently adding their riffs to the insanity, marking a rare example of metal not based entirely on guitars. Even more impressive, though it was a remarkable achievement in its time, Piece of Time only hinted at the technical daring and unorthodox sophistication to be achieved by Atheist’s second full platter, the watershed Unquestionable Presence.

Disc 2: Unquestionable Presence 1991
Despite the very positive reception that had greeted their bold first album, Atheist almost didn’t last long enough to finish their second. Taking a break from recording to embark on a short tour, the band suffered a terrible blow when founding bassist Roger Patterson was killed in a horrifying Louisiana highway van crash. Shattered, but determined to finish their friend’s last project at all costs, the remaining members drafted session bassist Tony Choy in order to get the job done, emerging with a landmark recording in the process. Indeed, whereas 1989’s Piece of Time had been a shock, 1991’s Unquestionable Presence was a revelation. With their sparing but highly effective use of melody (mostly nuances and accents during solos and choruses), challenging songs like “Unquestionable Presence,” “Your Life’s Retribution,” and “Enthralled in Essence” advanced Atheist’s uncompromisingly dense “death-jazz” to previously unscaled heights. Throughout the album, dissonant, lightning-speed guitar riffs, slap bass, and screwy time signatures collide to create a recipe at once more intricate and more approachable than its predecessor — all the while keeping song lengths to manageable three to four minutes for maximum, concentrated impact. Matching the band’s evident musical growth, vocalist Kelly Shaefer also stepped it up on the lyrical front, issuing inscrutably enigmatic, eyebrow-raising lines on par with the album’s nearly impenetrable sonics. A daunting album to decipher, Unquestionable Presence is just as rewarding once decoded, and is still considered by experts to be one of the Floridian death metal scene’s ultimate statements in progressive metal.

Disc 3: Elements 1993
Easily the most accessible of Atheist’s three albums, 1993’s Elements was recorded under duress from the band’s record company, which forced them back into the studio after their initial breakup in order to fulfill their contractual obligations. But remarkably, the group rose to the challenge, delivering another highly accomplished set that illustrated both a natural evolution of their sound and served as a worthy final chapter to their all-too-brief and very troubled trajectory. Shedding most of the harsh dynamics of efforts past, Elements was the first Atheist LP to welcome melody with open arms, resulting in a far more immediate and organic listening experience throughout. Conceptually linked by lyrics focusing on the various elements (see title), songs like “Air,” “Mineral,” and “Fire” remain admirably true to the band’s famously complicated arrangements, syncopated rhythms, and ultra-precise attack, but also boast a cleaner musicality never before attempted by the group. The only challenge to the album’s creative continuity then becomes the short instrumental mood pieces (“Samba Briza,” “Fractal Point,” etc.) interspersed between the actual songs, these proving a tad too off-kilter and oblique even for Atheist to pull off convincingly. Yet with the final, old-school aggression of the excellent title track, the band offers a fitting, all-inclusive swan song summarizing their entire musical odyssey.

Disc 4: Jupiter 2010
Atheist delivers ‘Jupiter’, a landmark return of sonically gargantuan proportions. After 17 years, the progressive aggressive forefathers have re-emerged more massive than ever. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, this band, alongside fellow Floridian’s Death and Cynic, handcrafted the subgenre that spawned bands such as Meshuggah, Between The Buried And Me and Mudvayne. In 2010, Atheist perfect it immensely.

Track list:
Disc 1: Piece Of Time 1990
1. Piece Of Time
2. Unholy War
3. Room With A View
4. On They Slay
5. Beyond
6. I Deny
7. Why Bother?
8. Life
9. No Truth

Disc 2: Unquestionable Presence 1991
1. Mother Man
2. Unquestionable Presence
3. Your Lifes Retribution
4. Enthralled In Essence
5. An Incarnation’s Dream
6. The Formative Years
7. Brains
8. And The Psychic Saw

Disc 3: Elements 1993
1. Green
2. Water
3. Samba Briza
4. Air
5. Displacement
6. Animal
7. Mineral
8. Fire
9. Fractal Point
10. Earth
11. See You Again
12. Elements

Disc 4: Jupiter 2010
1. Second To Sun
2. Fictitious Glide
3. Fraudulent Cloth
4. Live And Live Again
5. Faux King Christ
6. Tortoise The Titan
7. When The Beast
8. Third Person