Rating: 9.5

Country: USA

Release Date: 2005

Track list:
1. Mother Man
2. Unquestionable Presence
3. 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 (demo)
10. The Formative Years (demo)
11. Unquestionable Presence (demo)
12. An Incarnation’s Dream (demo)
13. Retribution (instrumental)
14. Brains (instrumental)
15. Enthralled In Essence (1990 demo)
16. Mother Man (Drum & bass track)
17. And The Psychic Saw (rhythm track)

Band Website: Atheist

Atheist - Unquestionable Presence (Reissue)

Kelly Shaeffer- Vocals/Lead Guitar
Tony Choy- Bass
Steve Flynn- Drums
Rand Burkey- Lead Guitar

So here's the second in the series of Atheist reissues, and while it is quite definite to me that this is the inferior of the two REAL Atheist recordings, it is still unbelievably awesome in every imaginable way. In short, Atheist takes the route of all their contemporaries and temper their relentless, fearsomely ferocious death/thrash with more ornate, pronounced touches of melody, jazzy syncopation and neo-prog strangeness. Where these elements served to buttress the fundamentally death/thrash leanings of 'Piece Of Time', they are pushed more to the forefront here, and as a result, this affair is somewhat less oppressively aggressive and breakneck as its predecessor. This, of course, is compensated by the astoundingly watertight songwriting, the marvellous playing and terrifically awkward sense of melody that characterize 'Unquestionable Presence'.

One will also notice the cleaner, highly musical production here, each instrument boasting an incredible richness and individuality in the mix. Tony Choy, in fact, probably gets even more presence in the mix than Roger Patterson ever did, and the thick bass is even more ubiquitous than it was in 'Piece Of Time'. To a large degree, this is very much the more technical of the first two Atheist records, and Choy has plenty of space to indulge himself, bringing to life some extremely fucked-up Roger Patterson-penned basslines. Shaeffer notes, interestingly, that Patterson was very much the catalyst of the Atheist songwriting experience, as his bass riffs formed the fundamental skeleton around which the rest of the song was built. The increasing precedence that Patterson's bass was taking in the mix would reach boiling point here, as there are plenty of breaks dominated entirely by the bass as a lead instrument, the guitar occasionally dropping back to assume a mere rhythmic role. Thankfully, Tony Choy is a remarkably capable bassist if you're into the jazzy Digiorgio and Sean Malone thing, which I can dig, but don't hold in as high of a regard as the straight, balls-to-the-wall METUHL thing. All that being said, though, one can't help but marvel at the fact that these basslines had sprung from the mind of a 21-year-old four-string wizard.

The songs, of course, are outrageously brilliant, intense, interstellar, otherworldly, extraterrestrial bursts of cosmic energy that flaunt all the befuddling time shifts of fusion and the disorienting, exploratory fantastical edge of the best progressive music. Guitars are considerably cleaner here, and it appears that the bass is completely clean throughout, which in turn allows the extraordinary musicality of the fare offered to seize the stage. This is a far less riff-oriented affair than what preceded it, and it will seem that a lot of the time, serpentine, intertwining lead runs coalesce around off-kilter, ever-shifting tempos and omnipresent, dexterous bass notes. Yet, with all the remarkable, unpredictable ebb-and-flows, there is an incredible infectiousness that pervades throughout the record and renders each song a memorable keeper.

While the perpetually-changing, mercurial song structures make 'Unquestionable Presence' an exciting listen each and every time, the liberal melody and urgent hooks that contain the spilling, hyperactive musicianship give each song form and cohesiveness, Atheist expressing decidedly progressive and forward-thinking tendencies within what is essentially a pop format. Yes, there are choruses, a host of incredibly memorable melodies, enough AMAZING riffs to really sink your teeth in, recurring ideas that frame the wicked madness with aplomb. In short, there is an easily discernible method to the insanity, and the songs never veer into tech-geek territory. Take the title track, which is, for my money, the finest song in Atheist's catalogue. Spectral, whispering clean guitar and what sounds like the howl of winds gives the introduction a gentle texture before an impossible, syncopated riff erupts atop a strange snare/bass drum pattern courtesy of Mr Flynn. This escalates into a MAJESTIC, lofty sounding melody for the verse, before the chorus passage once again swells into rampaging, churning, grinding heaviness. So sophisticated, so great.

The Slayer-isms have pretty much been subdued and vanquished completely here, and it's apparent that when everything gels into a concrete, sledgehammer riff here, that Atheist have very much become an entity unto themselves. Additionally, parallels to Death have been cleanly eliminated, as I would venture to say that the material on offer here, from a technical standpoint, trumps anything bearing the Death insignia to date. The approach here is somewhat less song-oriented than, say, 'Individual Thought Patterns' or 'Symbolic', but the end result is more mesmerizing, hypnotic, discombobulating, MIND-EXPLODING than pretty much every “technical” death metal recording to date. I have absolutely no idea what's going on with these guys in the last minute of “Retribution”, or indeed the entirety of “Brains”, which is just totally fucked-up off-time oddness that predates and effortlessly exceeds the overrated likes of Meshuggah, Spiral Architect and Dillinger Escape Plan by an outrageous margin. Throughout all the mutant, noodly strangeness of this record, Atheist still vehemently assert their capacity to rip your testicles out and smash your face in- fast forward to “Enthralled In Essence”, the most 'Piece Of Time'-ish number on the entire recording, opening with possibly the coolest single-note riff of all time and the greatest number of flesh-tearing riffage on the record. That melodic bridge and that solo….ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! THAT POST-RIFF SOLO…BANG YOUR HEAD, WORTHLESS WRETCH! If you don't wet your pants to this masterpiece, check your pulse (or, uh, your failing bladder)! As though it were the subdued, evocative yin to “Enthralled In Essence”''s unrestrainedly barbaric yang, “An Incarnation's Dream” opens with some almost Floyd-ian clean electric noodling and swirling space-rock noise samples, a prime slab of stargazing soporifia that ANNOUNCES, gently, that Atheist are one of the best bands ever.

Interestingly, the bonus tracks here have never seen the light of day, and the lucky bunch who invest in the Relapse reissues will have on their hands a bunch of pre-production demos featuring the inimitable Roger Patterson. I don't know if it's just sheer sentimentality, but I very much prefer Patterson's playing on the demos. Somehow, Choy's already outstanding playing seems flaccid compared to Patterson's, which is just alive, forceful, awesomely agile. There are also noticeable, though subtle differences in the basslines presented by both bassists, too, which suggests that Choy took creative liberties with the lines that Patterson inked. Again, I somewhat prefer Patterson's versions, which somehow feel more insistent, audacious, raw. At the same time, Choy's playing is PERFECT for what Atheist had set out to do for 'Unquestionable Presence', so I have no real bones about his performance.

I have no idea what's going on with some of Kelly's vocals on these pre-production demos, particularly on “Enthralled In Essence”, where he goes into this Baloff meets Zetro headspace and does some animated screams that are rather strange. “An Incarnation's Dream” sounds considerably different, too, as the clean arpeggio that dominates the LP version is subdued slightly in lieu of a solo that doesn't make the LP. Also, the sampled, Hawkwind/Floyd vacuum of noise doesn't make this pre-production cut, which renders it considerably inferior to the final incarnation. The instrumental cuts of “Retribution” and “Brains” really further elaborate on just how unique and peerless Roger Patterson really was, and how mindblowingly creative Atheist really was as a coherent musical unit. Really, those songs are pretty fucking outstanding.

Of further interest are the 1990 demo cut of “Enthralled In Essence”, and the isolated rhythm tracks of “Mother Man” and “And The Psychic Saw”. The former has absolutely no distinguishing characteristic between it and the 1991 pre-production demo, apart from several vocal nuances and what appears to be a different (and inferior) solo, so for the most part it remains a little bit of a novelty. As if you needed any reminding, the two isolated tracks remind you just how important the bass is to the Atheist experience.

So while I feel this is slightly lower in overall musical awesomeness as 'Piece of Time', which I like purely because of my inclinations towards all things malevolently thrashy, it is, beyond question, far greater in ambition and musical scope than 'Piece Of Time' could ever hope to be, which is already a pretty bold statement. Additionally, it effectively renders null any prior comparisons that might arise between Atheist and other like-minded bands. This is Atheist's most unique and unrelentingly uncompromising albums, an unparalleled example of how jazz and death metal may merge to form a fiercely intelligent amalgam. To compound this album's greatness, the 33 minute album length will undoubtedly spur you to spin it over and over again, repeated listens that will invariably yield new insights each and every time.

January 20th, 2005