Atheist - Elements (1993)^{Release ID: 350}

Disappointing yet still entertaining last album by these insanely gifted musicians.

Just check out the genres currently listed for this album to see just how creative and original it is. Technical and progressive death metal, with touches of thrash metal and jazz fusion should be enough to let you know this isn't your run of the mill death metal outing. Atheist's first two albums had already combined these elements (unintentional pun) to form brilliant, yet still extremely heavy albums. But the third and last release in my opinion takes things just a little too far and ends up being a still entertaining, yet flawed album. When things come together, such as on Air and Mineral, this is just as good as their more renowned releases. But unfortunately, a lot of it suffers from a lack of focus (another intentional pun for those in the know) and energy, with a few tracks feeling a touch under developed.

The musicianship as always is jaw dropping and the production is perfectly fine. I love it when extreme metal bands give the bass room to breathe and this is an example where you can hear it the entire time. Shaefer's vocals are a bit less chaotic on Elements than on Piece of Time and Unquestionable Presence and that suits the lighter intensity of this album. The four little instrumentals are all perfectly nice, but none of them really add to the album (except for Samba Briza which is a full-on jazz piece) and seem to be just filling up time. It may sound like I don't enjoy Elements but that's not true at all. It's just very difficult not to compare it to the band's former glories and it must be said that it's the lesser of the three. Still, if you want to hear some death metal that's filled with technical proficiency and unusual instrumentation, this should be very high on your list.

There are few metal bands that I heard more of through the first half of the 1990's than Florida technical death metal masters Atheist. I first encountered them through their 1990 debut album "Piece of Time" which I thoroughly enjoyed but it was 1991's classic "Unquestionable Presence" sophomore album that really sealed the deal for me & I still regard it as one of the true greats of its era. I even had some time for Atheist's 1988 "Beyond" demo tape so I think it's fair to say that I regarded myself as a committed fan by the time their 1993 third album "Elements" rolled around. People may not be aware of this given its status in the modern day but (much like Pestilence's divisive "Spheres" album from the same year) "Elements" initially received a fairly mixed reception from a large chunk of the death metal audience. I could see what people were saying but the creativity & innovation put into Atheist's latest effort still seemed kinda exciting so I gave it a good run. A couple of my fellow Neuropath band mates were absolutely obsessed with the band too so there was rarely a party where Atheist didn't get a run along with a drunken air guitar tournament or two. But the past few decades have seen me largely tending to steer away from "Elements" in favour of its two older siblings so I thought it was time to take a deeper look at why.

As much as I love "Unquestionable Presence", I do have to admit that its production job wasn't its crowning achievement & my initial revisit to "Elements" highlighted that it hadn't faired all that much better in that department with the rhythm guitars lacking weight & the vocals sounding echoey & a touch flat. In fact, I can't help but wonder what "Elements" may have been able to accomplish with a clean & bright modern-day sound because there's an incredible amount of creativity & instrumental prowess contained within this record. It's interesting that most people seem to still wanna tie this album in with the tech death crowd too because frankly... there's not a second of death metal on this mo'fucka. Atheist's death metal credentials were already a little sketchy in my opinion as I always maintained my position that they were more of a death/thrash band but here we see the new five-piece configuration (following the recruitment of additional lead guitarist Frank Emmi) dropping extreme metal altogether for a fresh new approach that saw them indulging in various strands of pure progressive metal. Hell... I'd even go so far as to suggest that "Elements" would sit more comfortably in The Gateway than it does in The Horde where it really has no right to be. I've never been one to judge an artist for taking creative risks though so I was still just as open to discovering whatever magic Atheist had in store for me.

The superiority of the musicianship on "Elements" is nothing short of staggering at times. The increased reliance on jazz structures created a wonderful platform for new drummer Josh Greenbaum & bass virtuoso Tony Choy to flourish, often at the expense of front man Kelly Shaefer who struggles a little bit behind the microphone with his vocals coming across as a bit flat after dropping much of their death metal menace. The real highlight here is the incredible lead guitar work of Emmi & Rand Burkey which is nothing short of invigorating though. I simply love the danger in their jazz fusion inspired shredding & feel that the album would have been significantly weaker with some less highly credentialed exponents of their craft. Choy isn't far behind though with his scintillating bass lines proving once again what a force he can be.

"Elements" sees Atheist exploring a vast array of difference subgenres & textures, often within the same song, & for that reason, it can sound a little jerky at times. There are no weak tracks included in the twelve on offer but I can't say that too many of them really hit the spot like Atheist's last two records did. The two track run of progressive metal masterclass "Air" into the jazz fusion influenced instrumental interlude "Displacement" is my favourite part of the album but I also enjoy the jazz guitar instrumental "See You Again" quite a lot. The rest of the record is pleasant enough but I rarely find myself enthralled like I was in the past. Many of the grooves the band hit on would feel more appropriate on an alternative metal release & there's a minor lack of cohesion in the compositional flow at times too.

There's no doubt that Atheist were still a class act & there were not many bands that could have created a record like "Elements" in 1993. It seems to have gone on to build somewhat of a cult following in the underground over the years & is now even considered to be another essential tech death metal release from the band. I can't agree with that mentality though as I can't shake the feeling that "Elements" is a step down from Atheist's first two full-lengths. Few can deny that it's a very interesting & intriguing listen but I'd challenge anyone that claims it to be an essential release.

For fans of Cynic, 90's Death & "Spheres"-period Pestilence.

Elements is, without a doubt, an incredibly fascinating album. Atheist retain their insanely technical and progressive style of playing, but traverse even further into progressive music, reaching the avant-garde. The music itself isn’t too bizarre, but the amount of styles crammed into any given song quite frankly is. There’s a lot of jerking around here, start-stop techniques and rapid changes not only in tempo, but also style and mood. The instrumental prowess of every member is nothing short of mind-blowing; the songwriting is hard to judge because it seems to purposely subvert expectations and go to odd places, but this doesn’t always work to its benefit.

Another interesting factor is the concept undertaken, focusing on the 4 traditional elements throughout the album. The album seems to loosely document the introduction and evolution of life on Earth via introducing the elements. This adds another layer of entertainment and intrigue for anyone willing to read along, and makes the songs more than just platforms for showcasing instrumental ability.

Unfortunately, the end result is far weaker than the previous two albums for me. First off, there is an abundance of interludes that offer nothing to the album, neither musically nor thematically. Along those lines, there are many passages in certain songs that are similarly shoved in there seemingly just to surprise the listener or do something “different,” but this usually takes away from the songs rather than add anything. Lastly, the music seems, on the whole, unrelated to the themes. When writing a song for each of the 4 elements, you’d think you would at least try to evoke the elements musically, but overtly this is not the case.

The title track is iconically a perfect combination of everything done right on this record, and one of the best songs of the band’s career. A fitting final track for their (at one time) final album.

Atheist is one of the first ever technical death metal bands and one of the very few that could induce some tasteful interest. Their 3rd album Elements was their last album before they split up for over a decade and is more experimental than many other memorable death metal albums.

Those different things include more jazz than heaviness. Kelly Shaefer's vocals are not as death-growly as other death metal bands, leaning more towards thrash. The rhythm section is on fire with booming bass and blasting drums. Elements tear down the walls of death metal and let in elements (couldn't resist the pun) of other genres, alongside the unorthodox intricacy of time signature changes, riffs, and structures.

"Green" is an eccentric catchy composition to jam out at home. "Water" continues the catchiness. "Samba Briza" is where the jazz instrumentation really shine, break through the limits of death metal and adding something death metal fans thought wasn't possible. What a standout! The waltz-paced "Air" rises from jazzy guitar and cymbal into a riff blizzard. Shaefer's impressive shrieking strike the music down into the snow. Rather than being catchy, the windy music catches the feeling and drags through the breeze. After a bit more fury comes some more commanding jazz.

Self-indulgent progression doesn't work for the rest of the interludes, starting with "Displacement". The semi-thrashy "Animal" adds a more deliberate state of tempo while in a dreamy flow of vocal echoes, harmonies, and bass, a decadent turn through Coroner's progressive thrash. "Mineral" begins mechanically drilling into mathy chaos that they might return with in their comeback album Jupiter. But this was 1993, the year when death metal was adding gothic beauty, think My Dying Bride and Edge of Sanity, whereas Atheist's angelic riffs and bass add their own sexy near-perfection. Searing like the element, "Fire" is probably the best song here, tossing jazz embers into metal-fused inferno, the way that element represents.

"Fractal Point" is another one of the fractured interludes. There's atmosphere added to the relentless "Earth". The last interlude "See You Again" is something I wish to never hear again, like a couple pop songs with that title. However, the title track makes fascinating use of the last 6 minutes. All of the elements, both literal and metaphorical, are combined to summarize their sound entirely.

Elements is an underrated forgotten part of the 90s death metal scene. I've lost appreciation for all of death metal nearly a year before this review, but anyone enjoys original technical death metal should give this a listen to blow their mind!

Favorites: "Samba Briza", "Air", "Animal", "Mineral", "Fire", "Elements"