Review by Daniel for Atheist - Elements (1993)

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.