Atheist "Elements" CD

Recorded and mixed in May, 1993 at Pro Media Studios in Gainesville, Florida.

Cynic and Atheist singlehandedly sent waves through the Metal community by not being pure Death Metal, and ended up completely being undone by it. However, if there ever was a classic case of literally being years ahead of their time, it's now. While Cynic delivered a one-hit knock-out with "Focus," Atheist's final statement isn't as Death Metal-infused as its predecessor, but it's their brightest moment, showcasing an experimentation that seemed to come naturally, but that would never be repeated to the same skill exemplified.
Atheist effortlessly ran through the gamete of genres to experiment with, and every one of them was a complete success. Jazz, Samba, Middle-Easten flavoured music, each expressing a common theme in their music while keeping an almost otherworldly technical expertise about them. Let it not be said that this band ever lost their teeth, though. Yeah, they liked to lace their music with exotic sounds, but at the heart, Athetist played thrashy Death Metal with ever-present, violent grooving and melody that ranges from sombre to completely awkward, like a lumbering behemoth. Songs like "Green" show off inauspicious intro that quickly turns into a rhythm that's not necessarily as violent as it is one of the most headband-friendly riffs ever written. Just after that, though, the song "Water" gives insight into Atheist's brand of progressive Death Metal, as after the first verse, bam, sitar solo. Essentially, this is what to expect for the next hour and a half.
"Samba Briza" is also more insight into just how far out into their own creative ether that Atheist have drifted. As the name would imply, it's just a Samba. Absolutely jaw-dropping bass from Tony Choy, with a bebop-singalong inducing guitar and piano solo.
Even further, you can see evidence of Atheist's sphere of influence by picking up on several aspects of their music that's sort of pushed back into the mix. For instance, ever wondered if anyone had used Meshuggah's alien lead guitar tone before? Atheist did. "Air" and "Mineral" both feature that compressed tone that sounds identical to Meshuggah.
The influence of this album, especially now that it's been remastered and re-released, with be incalculable in the near future. A completely fitting epitaph for a band that should made more music is exactly what we have in our hands here. This album is one of the best, and should've changed Metal. Although it hasn't yet, give it one spin and you'll know why the time just hasn't come yet.

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...