Description
2015 re-issue with bonus tracks and bonus dvd
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.
Track list:
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
9. Enthralled In Essence-pre-production demo August 1990
10. The Formative Years-pre-production demo August 1990
11. Unquestionable Presence-pre-production demo August 1990
12. An Incarnation’s Dream-pre-production demo August 1990
13. Retribution-pre-production demo August 1990
14. Brains-pre-production demo August 1990
15. Enthralled In Essenec-demo 1990
16. Mother Man-drums and bass tracks
17. And The Psychic Saw-rhythm track
Dvd track list:
1. No Truth-live The Waters Club February 1991
2. On They Slay-live The Waters Club February 1991
3. Unquestionable Presence-live The Waters Club February 1991
4. The Formative Years-live The Waters Club February 1991
5. Piece Of Time-live The Waters Club February 1991
6. Why Bother-live The Waters Club February 1991
7. Unholy War-live The Waters Club February 1991
8. Enthralled In Essence-Tony Choy rehearsals 1991
9. Unquestionable Presence-Tony Choy rehearsals 1991
10. The Formative Years-Tony Choy rehearsals 1991
11. An Incarnation’s Dream-Tony Choy rehearsals 1991
12. Brains-Tony Choy rehearsals 1991
13. Your Life’s Retribution-Tony Choy rehearsals 1991
14. And The Psychic Saw-Tony Choy rehearsals 1991
15. Mother Man-Tony Choy rehearsals 1991
16. Unquestionable Presence-Steve Flynn drum cam 1991
17. Enthralled In Essence-Steve Flynn drum cam 1991
18. Mother Man-Steve Flynn drum cam 1991
19. An Incarnation’s Dream-live Town Lounge Florida 28th July 1991
20. Brains-live Town Lounge Florida 28th July 1991
21. Mother Man-live Town Lounge Florida 28th July 1991
22. Götz Kühnemund Interview 1993