December 2024 Feature Release - The Infinite Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month's feature release for The Infinite, nominated by me (Shadowdoom9 (Andi)), is the 1991 sophomore album by Florida-based progressive metal/tech-death forerunners Atheist, Unquestionable Presence. With this landmark in the progressive/death metal realms, this extreme progressive blend is combined with jazz/Latin aspects in a way that barely any other bands had done before at the time. A grand album to add to discussion!

https://metal.academy/releases/349

Here's my review summary:

Atheist is a special band to appear in the early 90s. Together with Cynic, they shook the harsh death metal world by jazzing it up with jazz elements. And what an amazing perfect product this band has created! Atheist had their own unique writing going on. Bassist Roger Patterson wrote the bass lines for the guitars to be structured upon for a different unconventional interplay. Sadly, he's gone, after a vehicular accident. RIP... Helping out the band is the massive delivery of Tony Choy. We also have the mighty guitar skills of Rand Burkey and Kelly Shaefer, the latter providing clean yet aggressive vocals reminiscent of the later Death albums. And who would forget Steve Flynn's perfectly pattern-less drumming variety? The band have a lot of metal riffing fury in their arsenal to go with the jazzy bass. The rhythmic twists will blow your mind alongside the epic melody and desperate speed. This band has clearly established the jazzy progressive tech-death that was first hinted in Piece of Time and fully formed in Unquestionable Presence. One of the most influential classics in the progressive/death metal realms!

5/5

Recommended tracks: "Mother Man", "Unquestionable Presence", "Enthralled in Essence", "An Incarnation's Dream", "Brains"

For fans of: Cynic's Focus, 90s-era Death, Sadist