Unquestionable Presence

Sarasota, Florida’s Atheist formed in 1987 and represented an immediate challenge to their peers; their brand of death/thrash metal was breathtakingly intricate, guitarists Kelly Shaefer and Rand Burkey’s riffs in a near-constant state of flux as Roger Patterson’s bass did its own thing underneath and Steve Flynn played drums with Neil Peart-esque complexity. On this, their second album, they broadened their sonic palette, bringing in jazz harmonies, subtle Latin rhythms, ambient electronic sounds, and slap bass from Tony Choy (Patterson died in a van accident between albums). This may also be the only death metal album to feature recordings of birdsong (“Mother Man”). It’s still furiously aggressive, too, of course.