Rating: 9.9

Country: USA

Release Date: 2005

Track list:
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
10. No Truth (Demo)
11. On They Slay (Demo)
12. Choose Your Death (Demo)
13. Brain Damage (Demo)
14. Beyond (Demo)
15. Hell Hath No Mercy (Demo)
16. On They Slay (As R.A.V.A.G.E.)
17. Brain Damage (As R.A.V.A.G.E.)
18. Undefiled Wisdom (As R.A.V.A.G.E.)

Band Website: Atheist

Atheist - Piece of Time (Reissue)

Kelly Schaeffer- Vocals, Lead Guitar
Roger Patterson- Bass
Steve Flynn- Drums
Rand Burkey- Lead Guitar

Chances are, if you know ANYTHING about death metal, you are already aware of the fact that Atheist kick a considerable amount of posterior. In fact, I would go so far as to say that as far as extraterrestrial, leftfield death metal goes, Atheist is in fact that very best band to EVER do it. If you take offence at such a statement (ie, you're a bigger Death fanboy than I am, which is a considerable feat), try swallowing this one- I am also of the opinion that 'Piece Of Time' is, by a considerable margin, the very best thing that these Floridian maniacs put their bloodied thumbprints on. Yes, 'Piece of Time' is, along with Hellwitch's 'Szygial Miscreancy', THE best leftfield death/thrash record of our time, trumping the likes of Nocturnus' demos/'The Key', Death's 'Human' and Pestilence's 'Consuming Impulse' for that fashionable honour.

Just what makes this album such a murderous, flesh-tearing experience? Simply put, much like 'Szygial Miscreancy', 'Piece Of Time' is rawer, harsher, thrashier and more straight-to-the-fucking-gut than any of its contemporaries. I can't help but think that if Evil Chuck kept ploughing the fields of Slayer and Venom (ie the demos, the first two records and to a lesser extent, spiritual healing) instead of toning down the macabre devilishness a tad in lieu of more involved melodic work, the end result would be incredibly similar to 'Piece Of Time'. At the risk of compromising the sheer awesomeness of Atheist by drawing a parallel to a somewhat less impressive band, the similarities to mid-period Death are really quite obvious throughout 'Piece Of Time'. Kelly's vocals and phrasings are strikingly akin to Evil Chuck's, though one might suggest that there is an extraordinary coarseness and vitriol to Shaffer's strains that bear a greater likeness to Chuck's pre-'Human' endeavours. Effectively, the music is sort of what you'd get if you crossed the bare-toothed aggression of 'SBG' and 'Leprosy' with the involved structures, seamless songwriting and inspired playing of 'Human', like the best album that Death never made. In the process, 'Piece Of Time' asserts itself as a finer album than anything since the Mantas/Death demos and 'Scream Bloody Gore' (which is, after all, the best death metal album ever).

What may strike you upon first listen is how fucking accomplished this band is at their age and stage of their career. This is a goddamn DEBUT album, for Belial's sake, and the playing is OUTSTANDING. Steve Flynn could easily hold his own against Hoglan/Reinert, Shaffer/Burkey pretty much trounce Schuldiner/Masvidal, and it's common knowledge that Roger Patterson is the best death metal bassist ever. The strength of this record is it always remains METAL, instead of delving into the pointless fusion pseudo-prog bullshit that characterised the similarly (and to my mind, inexplicably) lauded 'Focus' by contemporaries Cynic. Nope, there's no Digiorgio fusion jazziness here, no wanky space-age solos, no lame interludes, just balls-to-the-wall, unadulterated DEATH/THRASH MAYHEM, albeit death/thrash mayhem expressed in a highly original and unique way. While Flynn's drumming does veer into jazzy territory timing-wise, the band never sound like a bad Weather Report or Mahavishnu Orchestra or anything here, everything is METAL through and through, and any exotic playing/time signatures only serve to diversify the thoroughly steel-hearted proceedings.

Oh yeah, and the riffs fucking RULE. These fellows clearly sustained themselves on a musical diet of 'Torment In Fire' and 'Hell Awaits', because a lot of the riffing here comes off like mutant bastardizations of Urbanati/Hannemann/King compositions. There is that sense of apocalyptic ominousness, that immaculate balance between infernal hellishness, atmospheric nefariousness and naked balls-out, necksnapping AGGRESSION that defines all great Slayer-schooled death/thrash. Mix this with a good deal of off-kilter, oddly phrased passages (the main riff of “Unholy War”, for instance), sometimes-melodic, sometimes-atonal, always-awesome solos and you have a hell of a guitar album. And Roger Patterson…best finger-style metal bassist other than Geezer, Cliff and Steve Harris? I wouldn't call that a bold claim at all, really, considering this late, great, crazy-haired maniac exhibited such astonishing dexterity and sense of rhythm at the tender age of 20.

The songs! The songs! What songwriting! Riff after riff of sheer fucking hell, all propelled by fusillades of skullfucking, mindwarping rhythms, absolutely immaculate songwriting that barely EVER leaves any breathing room for you to catch your wind. Some favourites: “Piece Of Time” (THAT riff, then THAT solo!), “Room With A View” (gutwrenching, churning intro!) and, of course, “I Deny”, which, while perhaps isn't the greatest Atheist song of all time, very much showcases much of what makes Atheist so fucking amazing. A fantastic, jazzy intro complete with mindsnaring nimble runs courtesy of Mr Patterson phasing into a marauding, stampeding midtempo thrash riff, collapsing into a plod before launching into a somewhat Meshuggah passage that segues into successive melodic leads by Burke and Patterson. Cue in searing, scorching Slayer-on-fast-forward riff that halts abruptly and fades into the same despondent trudge that made its appearance earlier. Best riff on the album plaudits, however, fall to THAT riff that closes out “Beyond” (and hell, even that 'Hell Awaits' riff that opens the track)…fucking AMAZING!

I was somewhat worried that Relapse would leave CD buyers with somewhat less tantalizing prospects as far as bonus tracks go, but I am very pleased to note that this is far from the case. In fact, this is very much THE best reissue I've purchased in ages, and if you just take a gander at the tracklisting, purchasing this is pretty much a no-brainer, even if you already own the e-bay cash cows that are the originals. Yes, the demos fucking rule….just as much as Cynic's incensed, heavy-as-a-motherfucker demo material (why on EARTH didn't they carry on with that sound?). “No Truth”, while largely the same as the LP version, benefits from not having that spacey Nocturnus keyboard intro/clean guitar outro, and the guitar sound is far grittier, nastier and dirtier, which really gives the proceedings a very spontaneous and urgent feel. Needless to say, that final section of hellraising cacophony is still present, complete with all the tumbling, spilling-over-itself breathless percussion that you'd want. “Choose Your Death”, which didn't make the cut, is storming, blasty, thrashy madness, very straightforward and very rambunctious, quite a bit more linear than the material on 'Piece Of Time'. Great atonal Kerry King soloing, really urgent, heartracing rhythms, great stuff all around, though one sees why it didn't make the cut for 'Piece Of Time'.

“Brain Damage”….really fucking rules, man! Vintage Atheist all the way through, progressive riff-o-rama approach filled with great turns, a curiously Hammett-on-'Kill-Em-All' first solo, lots of interesting guitar/bass interplay, and a healthy fistful of RIFF SHRAPNEL to go with it. “Beyond”, meanwhile, appears to be in a different key than the version that made it to the LP, and the drums, while essentially keeping the same rhythm, seem infinitely weirder because of the drum sound. I can't really explain it, but there's a definite Away-ish strangeness going on here or something. Anyway, this is clearly the standout of the demo, just as the LP version was a standout on the full-length. Kelly's vocals are somewhere in between his approach on the 'Hell Hath No Mercy' demo and 'Piece Of Time' here, though, and it's interesting to note the occasional Cronos-isms appearing here and there amidst the Evil Chuck-ness. The solo is pretty different, too. I'd say that the LP version is far superior to the demo incarnation, but the song is so utterly ruling that it makes little difference, anyhow.

Interestingly, the title track off Atheist's premiere demo excursion has made it on to this slab of plastic, “Hell Hath No Mercy”. Note Shaffer's shrieky vocals here, which sort of sound like the high end of Glen Benton's vocal processor meets Snake on 'War & Pain'. Musically, this outing is somewhat removed from the direction that they would later adopt, and astonishingly, there is a slight detectable sloppiness here that is very uncharacteristic of Atheist. Still, for the most part the song hints at the forward-thinking inventiveness that would typify Atheist's career.

'R.A.V.A.G.E.' demo. About fucking time that this thing made it on to a slab of plastic, and thankfully, not as an overpriced mCD ala Sadus' 'Death To Posers'. The early version of “On They Slay” has all the masterful brilliance of the 'Piece Of Time' cut, RIFFS UP THE FUCKING WAZOO, MATE! Kelly's vocals are pronouncedly MORE pissed off than they are even on 'Piece Of Time', too, and it's somewhat strange that he would go on to tone it down a little and temper it with some roared/sung Cronos-ish vocalizations on Atheist's first demo. Check out that melodic, shred-happy Schwartzberg solo that surfaces on “Brain Damage”, too, pretty cool stuff. “Undefiled Wisdom” is pretty nasty, ravaging, mindmelting thrash, not a million miles away from something on 'Darkness Descends' in approach, really.

I can't express how much you need this record. Of all the things that I'd consider to be a “must buy” in 2005, I truly believe that this reissue of 'Piece Of Time' should take priority above all else. Thanks, Relapse!

December 11th, 2005