Review Summary: Comprised of both blistering technicality and mid-paced groove, Atheist's "Piece Of Time" provides 32 minutes of death metal of a calibre only matched by its influence on the scene as a whole. Both groundbreaking and refined, this debut is nigh-on flawles
Formed as a quartet in Florida, 1984, Atheist are a band respected for the complexity of their music, their implementation of jazz influences into their sound, and for helping to establish the template for much early music within the death metal genre. Their first album, "Piece Of Time," was recorded in 1988, released in 1990 on the 'Active' label, and is a nine-track release clocking in at a frugal yet effective length of 32:10.
The personnel here are Kelly Shaefer (vocals and guitar), Roger Patterson (bass), Steve Flynn (drums), and Rand Burkley (guitar), and their performances largely helped to set the bar for the earliest examples of the technical death metal sound. Patterson especially goes a long way to helping differentiate this album from others released around the same time, skilfully filling in the frequent gaps in electric guitar riffing with an absurdley complex and dextrous performance. The fact that he is completely audible throughout is not something to be sniffed at when his all-round playing here is top-notch, as is evident from the opening notes of the title track, or else from an extremely good fill before the solo on the excellent 'Room With A View'. The drumming is just as flamboyant, containing both some incredibly complicated and memorable fills, such as those found in 'Unholy War', and also an extremely good sense of when to relax and allow the other instruments to shine through, or else provide a solid tempo without ever sounding excessive, such as the first couple of minutes of 'Why Bother?' Vocally, Kelly Shaefer is perhaps not the most impressive in the business of his day, but his shrieks have some character to help them stand out as instantly recognizable. This is something that would continue through their future work, with 'Mother Man' from "Unquestionable Presence" instantly coming to recollection.
It would be remiss to not separate the guitars in a technical death metal review from the other instruments, no matter how great those aspects might be to the overall sound, as Shaefer and Burkley here clearly offer the standout contributions. The mixture of tremolo picked riffs, galloped three-note bursts, and those alternations between two or three notes that can be found distributed throughout the band's entire discography blend together to create an absolutely unforgettable experience right from the off, with 'Piece Of Time' setting an incredible foundation for the rest of the album to only add to. The furious shredded solo embellishes this further, whilst the three note break around the three-minute-forty mark serves as an appetizer for the off-kilter offerings the band became really well known for. This band is not one instantly thought of as being possessed of individually memorable killer riffs, but it is the way that the guitars chop and change tempo frequently, and throw multiple varied and completely different riffs into a blender in a way that brings memories of albums such as "Time Does Not Heal" immediately to mind, that causes them to stand out to this day, and ensures "Piece Of Time" is as relevant and captivating an experience now as ever.
The less complex moments such as the riff leading into - and backing - the solo of 'Unholy War,' or the intro to 'Room With A View' found less than thirty seconds later, are the backbone of many of the more successful technical death metal experiments of the day, allowing those flourishes of more frenetic and expressive guitar and bass work to stand out all the more potently. Suffocation were another band of the day that showed this off well, as did Gorguts in their pre-"Obscura" form, but this was the first example of it and can therefore be seen as a template for what would be expanded upon as the early 1990's progressed. Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse has cited Atheist as an influence on his own playing, whilst in other band's music this legacy is audibly apparent. 'I Deny' even gives a glimpse into the pastures this band would tread subsequently in its opening salvo of frantic bass playing and obscure tempo changes, before progressing into an excellent moment using first a set of ringing chords, before an isolated vocal passage plays, and then those fluctuations in pace return, setting the stage for a marvellous guitar solo, and then a calm passage with an almost militaristic drum beat that allows a transition back into the shrieks and groans of the vocals. Closing the record with sheer musical ecstasy is 'No Truth,' which opens with a sound that recalls a choir yet accompanied by something almost astral in its composition. This final song takes a little time to establish itself with clean guitars and that wondrous sensation, before some of the more complicated riffing explodes from whatever medium of music it is playing through, and the shifts in riffs from those technical throes into an urgent and brutal verse riff and beyond are so multi-faceted and textured. This is one of those watershed moments in music, where death metal felt as though it had evolved and progressed beyond the raw and simplistic material available at the time.
"Piece Of Time" is thoroughly deserving of the praise it continues to receive from fans of the genre, and is sadly a little overlooked when discussions surrounding the best of the genre are held. "Unquestionable Presence" is perhaps their most distinctive and mesmeric work, but this one holds truest to their death metal roots, and is as revolutionary as any of the other exceptional death metal works from its era. I convey upon this album a maximum score, with my reasoning being its elevation above the established confines of the then-fledgling genre, its influence upon so many bands that followed in its wake, and the masterful shifts from the hyper-technical to the more groove-focused riffing. For every moment of insanity such as those first heavy riffs of 'No Truth', there are periods of relative stability brought about during, for example, the opening of 'On The Slay' that keep a phenomenal sense of balance here. This provided a breathtaking template for what they would go on to expand on "Unquestionable Presence".
