Customer Reviews

Elements

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Atheist are truly no doubt one of the most inhumanly talented, original sounding, and influentual progressive/technical death metal bands that I've ever heard in my life, and I sure don't regret getting into them one bit. Their third and final album 1993's "Elements" is just an absolutely amazing, unique atmospheric, mindsweeping progressive/technical death metal masterpiece, and it's also their most jazz oriented album as well. While I do love both "Piece of Time" and "Unquestionable Presence", "Elements" is my favorite album by Atheist. True this album may be more jazz oriented and that's very cool, but it's still very heavy and technical too. This incredible monster of an album has absolutely everything from crazy mindsweeping guitar riffs and solos, to thrashy Kreator-esque vocals and intelligent lyrics and songwriting, to awesome jazzy basslines and amazing drumming, I mean it will just take your breath away.

An interesting fact about "Elements" is, that it was written, recorded and mixed in 40 days in the studio. Back then, the band wanted to break up but they needed to finish their three album contract to their record label. This album also features a third guitarist by the name of Frank Emmi. Personally I find it rather interesting and fun to hear three guitars thrashing it out. Kelly Shaefer (who also does vocals) takes over rhythm guitar duties on this album, while Frank Emmi and Rand Burkey deliver and simply amaze the listener with awesomely breathtaking guitar solo after guitar solo throughout. Tony Choy's basslines are just absolutely jazzy, funky, thunderous, and ungodly throughout making this album heavily bass-driven. The drumming is also tight, precise, and downright amazing throughout with lots of funky beats and solid odd time signatures.

Every song on here (minus some of the interludes one here) is very unique, atmospheric, and amazing in each way but here's a look at some of my favorites on here. "Green" is an excellent funky album opener that features catchy funky riffs, crazy solos, thunderous basslines and excellent drumming. "Water" is an excellent addicting bass-driven number that features just absolute thundering bass work that just slaps the listener silly, along with more powerful riffage and soloing, solid rhythms and insane drumwork, and even some catchy sitar solos as well. My favorite song on here no doubt has to be "Samba Briza" which is a fantastic catchy Latin-Jazz instrumental that clocks in at approximately 1:58. This song features a bebop-singalong inducing spanish guitar and piano solo and of course some absolutely jaw dropping basslines from Tony to boot. Track six "Animal" features cool atmopsheric like guitar riffs and solos and funky slamming basslines, "Mineral" is another jazzy number that features somewhat funky beeping guitar noises, some more excellent leadwork, great bass, and some funky drum beats. "Earth" features some more catchy funky riffage, a nice R&B like breakdown, more great solos and funky drumwork and the title track "Elements" is just a deliciously funky and jazzy album closer. For Bonus Tracks we have some songs that were recorded from a live radio broadcast from 1992 which is definately a treat.
Jeremy's song ratings:
Elements album:
1. Green (3:22) - 5/5
2. Water (4:28) - 5/5
3. Samba Briza (1:58) - 5/5 My favorite song on here
4. Air (5:34) - 5/5
5. Displacement (1:25) - 4/5
6. Animal (4:11) - 5/5
7. Mineral (4:33) - 5/5
8. Fire (4:37) - 5/5
9. Fractal Point (0:44) - 4/5
10. Earth (3:53) - 5/5
11. See You Again (1:17) - 4/5
12. Elements (5:47) - 5/5
Live Radio Broadcast 1992:
13 Unquestionable Presence (4:02) - 5/5
14. On They Slay (3:47) - 5/5
15. Entralled in Essence (4:31) - 5/5
16. The Formative Years (3:38) - 5/5
17. Mother Man (4:32) - 5/5
18. Retribution (3:11) - 5/5

If you call yourself a fan of progressive/technical death metal and you've not experienced the music of Atheist, then you are truly missing out. I'm glad I got to experiece it, and like I said before, I don't even regret it one bit. This album is an absolute must have for any fan of Atheist, progressive metal, technical death metal, jazz-fushion metal, or just metal in general. I also highly recommend this to fans of Cynic, Death (late-period stuff), Spiral Architect, Pestilence, and Necrophagist.
Do yourself a huge favor, and buy this classic ASAP!! I guarantee you'll love it man. Well, bye for now.

'Unquestionable Presence' is pretty universally esteemed as the best Atheist album, but I easily prefer 'Elements'. 'Elements' isn't as wild and frenetic as that album, but it's still pretty out there, with mind-boggling basswork from Choy, more powerful vox than ever before, and actual melody. Some people put a premium on complexity alone- I'm not one of them. What can I say, I like things that are, gasp, memorable with technicality and complexity underlying it to give it some depth. Well sure, there are plenty of albums I like a lot that are so unconventional that nothing whatsoever sticks for a great many listens, but I like balance better, and that's what 'Elements' has got. Choruses are more prominent here than in the previous Atheist albums, and they are pretty great at times. (See the absolutely thunderous bass-driven refrain to 'Water' and the strangely ominous, repetitive 'Mineral'.) This album is also probably the cleanest, purest blend of metal and jazz that I've heard, combining them smoothly rather than just throwing a bunch of jazzy interludes between the off-time, chunky metal riffs. This is also the most bass driven metal album I've ever heard, but it's mixed loudly enough that it doesn't diminish the intensity too much. Again, you just can't say enough about Choy's performance. Perhaps the most entertaining bass performance I've ever heard on a metal album. Of course, all the guys in Atheist are great instrumentalists, with tons of great leads and a strong sense of groove all thru the album.

On top of the absolutely great album this re-issue actually gives us some very good bonus tracks in the form of a 6-song live on the radio broadcast. 5 of the songs are from 'Unquestionable Presence', and they sound better and clearer here than they do on that album. I don't how much better this re-master sounds compared to the original version, but these live tracks definitely make it worthwhile even if they sound basically the same.

Alright, that's it. This is definitely one of the most underappreciated jazz-metal albums out there. Certainly worth a listen for all tech-metal fans.

Athiest was a name in metal that i had always read good things about, but was never able to get ahold of their long out-of-print records to find out for myself. from what i understand, i was not alone in this boat. well, all you progressive, technical metal heads out there need to get on your knees and thank Relapse records for doing us all a favour and re-releasing these seminal chunks of exquisite, over-the-top musical masterpieces. Elements is an album that works on every level imagineable, and it is completely fulfilling in all it's glorious aspects. when listening to this amazing album, it seems that Athiest's attempt was to reach farther than any other metal band had ever done....not with ultimate speed, or the most technicaly-demanding riff; but with a songcraft that has a clear, concise scope and concept. embellished with enough hooks and differention that allows each cut to stand out from every other track, yet retains an overall unified theme. thankfully, the goals were reached and greatly exceeded! sitting down and listening to this album you notice how well the songs are paced. there is alot of different things going on...crazy sweeping guitars, thrashy vocals, jazzy bass and amazing drumwork that will confound the most experienced air-drummer...(haha)...but thanks (in no small part) to an outstanding production job and flawless playing; every instrument is crystal clear and the songs never get mired down in their own excess. every musician is allowed plenty of space to breathe and grow within these compositions. it's mind-boggling to listen to these recordings and read the liner notes telling of how the band had only 40 days to write and record this entire album! wow! and i mean...wow! i guess this is a good example of working well under pressure. the packing is really cool and all the lyrics are included (which are very well-written) and a few promo shot and liner notes are also a good read. i don't like the fact that the promotional sticker is stuck directly onto the jewel case! this covers up a considerable amount of art on the cover. wouldn't it have made more sense to have it attatched onto the shrink wrap? and the text is a bit misleading in my opinion. the sticker claims the music on this cd is "for fans of Dillinger Escape Plan & Necrophagist." and i have heard both of those bands and i don't think that Athiest is quite on the same level as either of those groups. not better or worse, just a different style...Athiest is much more jazzy influenced and more song-oriented. the sticker also claims that Cynic, late-period Death, and Spiral Architect fans would dig this album...and those are much better reference ponts. oh well...minor gripe. at the end of the day, it's the music that matters and Elements is not just another good metal album or one that would be an asset to your collection...it is, quite frankly, an essential purchase!

Released in 1993, this groundbreaking release was really ahead of its time. Despite the fact that Atheist was nearly always considered as a death metal band, you can still hear influences all over from latin rhythms to jazz and back to metal again.

There are no weak songs on the album and the musicianship is topnotch. The bassist Tony Choy really shines with his jazz influenced playing and the drumming manages to stay tight through the whole album.

This album is very technical and progressive and certainly would appeal to fans of technical metal like Cynic, Spiral Architect and Death.

This album is great. First listen I was expecting it to be more like Unquestionable presence, but the production is way richer. Over the years they have lost a bit of the death metal-ness they had going, there still is a strong thrash element, but more world-music and jazz bits thrown in for variety.
Seems they have matured a bit from the days of 'piece of time' , going less more Sadus and more watchtower/mid-voivod technical thrash. And also theres a theme with the song titles about fire,earth, water etc...and some well received instrumentals. The vocals seem to have improved since the Sadus-like raspyness on Unquestionable Presence. Overall, an excellent album from the Florida group, and going strong after losing their first bass-player in a car accident.

Atheist is the most amazing band in metal genre. You will never forget their songs after you listen to them.

Nowdays, it's easy for metalheads to be awed by Atheist, but back then, Atheist was a struggling band. The band often got booed offstage, Roger Patterson, the bass genius, was tragically killed in a bus accident, and having only less than to months to create the WHOLE album (from the cover to the music to the lyrics, basically from the ground up), and it shows that Atheist were the most talented death metal bands in the history of the entire genre.

This is their best. Having three guitars is totally entertaining, and they put it to good use. Some say that some bands just get too caught up in trying to impress the listener, which some just get bored. This common critiscim is something alot of metal bands face, and I think that metal bands don't deserve it. Bands like Nile are very technical, but they are only playing that to completate the lyrics and paint a picture. Some people just don't understand metal, and alot of people might find this album to be a little boring. Instead of focusing on that, try to uncover the music itself.

For Elements, the music has more choruses like General Zombie said. There is more jazz in it, and they throw some excellent instumentals, which are ever unique and atmospheric. They add alot to it, and are very cool. Tony Choy's basslines are awesome, and this is a great bass album, and they took care into making sure they balanced everything out. This is also their most technical of their three albums. Also noted is the atmospheric interludes, Green and Air are some standout tracks on that. It's a very good album, but I had some trouble adjusting to it and it took a while for it to grow on me. But then again, Unquestionable Presence also took some time, but it's great. The songs are amazing, but my favorite is Samba Briza. It's a latin Jazz Instrumental, and it's amazing that a death metal band plays something. It's too short though, but that's because it's so awesome. And it's real latin jazz, and it sound 100 percent latin. Check it out.

Elements is a cult classic that sadly will never meet the mainstream, but who cares? It's the music that matters, and Atheist delivers. Besides, popular music for the most part is just plain awful. It sickens me how S*** like crazy frog, ashlee simpson, and koRn sell like crazy, while this fails to go wide and is doomed for all eternity. Forget the popularity, and listen to the music. Atheist will guide you and take you on a journey.

If you are looking for machine gun double bass, roaring vocals, winding, thrashing guitar solos, and intense music, you have come to the wrong place. Like jazz, it's laid back, but like metal, it's heavy and entertaining, fast, but not really intense. Too bad Atheist broke up, but at least we have the albums. And Atheist gave us some classic albums indeed.

ATHEIST was a great Death Metal band that plays a creative, technical and extreme music with progressive and jazz influences.
It's first album, Piece of Time, is a Death Metal masterpiece and must be heard by everyone who enjoys extreme and technical music.
In the second album, Unquestionable Presence, these influences I said are strongers and it sounds perfect. It's still a good sound.
But in the album Elements, ATHEIST walks on the thin line between interesting innovation and annoying experimentalism. Some times closer from a side than other.
Someone doesn't know this band and look the cover and read the track list (1. Green / 2. Water / 3. Samba Briza / 4. Air / 5. Displacement / 6. Animal / 7. Mineral / 8. Fire / 9. Fractal Point / 10. Earth / 11. See You Again / 12. Elements) could think it is a New Age album.
It doesn't sound horrible, but doesn't sound great as Piece of Time or Unquestionable Presence. Death Metal radicalists would hate it. People more condescending with experimentalism probably will love it.

Elements was my first Atheist album, here I was standing in the store and I saw a sticker that said, "for fans of Cynic and later period Death". I almost creamed my pants upon reading that. This album was remastered in 2005, and thus it was re-hyped for the generation that was coming up around that time, which was me. The prospect of a Cynic or Death like band was very promising. I took the album home and was a bit disappointed. Why am I telling this story you might wonder? Truth is, Elements is weird in its own way, very jazzy, and "airy sounding" riffs, that despite their experimental nature sound nothing like those aforementioned bands, especially on this album. Go and get "Unquestionable Presence" to better approximate a Death like album. Despite having a very jazzy feel, this is certainly NOT like Cynic either. I have since grown to really love this album, and the last five years has only since made it gain favor in my eyes. The weird off-kilter riffing I once struggled to understand, and the weirdo jazzy sequences click in a way that they could not have when I first discovered this album. It has the potential to really grow on you, or just baffle you with it's apparent weirdness.

I love Atheist and have since I first discovered them back around 1997-1998. I got into them really late as I was in my Metallica-phase previously and had just begun getting into the real metal in the underground. Cynic, Death, and Atheist are responsible for so much of what metal is today and I think Atheist is unfairly thrust to the bottom of the pile due to their inaccessibility compared to the other two.

So I'm writing a review of one of my fav metal cd's of all time on the eve before their rebirth tommorrow and the arrival of "Jupiter" on my doorstep. I love everything Atheist made, but Elements is something damn near perfect. "Piece of Time" and "Unquestionable Presence" were bombastic, sporatic, choatic, and downright insane 90% of the time. I'm not going to lie...it took me upwards of 25 listens to each of those cd's before I understood and loved them as much as something by either Death or Cynic which, to me, make much more accessable music, especially for the masses. Atheist obviously never cared about that though. They were the freeform jazz of modern metal and stayed true to that til they broke up, which is an amazing thing in todays musical age.

So "Elements" came along and I didn't love it when I first got it either. When I was younger(around 15 when I bought it), I didn't really have the hunger yet for better performed music ala Opeth, Enslaved, or Ihsahn. It was a few more years before this album really hit me, probably thanks to Death's "The Sound of Perserverence". Metal was becoming a viable artform and wasn't just about headbanging anymore. Here is where "Elements" pushed metal along with those bands I've mentioned.

I think a lot of Atheist's original fans looked at this album as a departure and weren't yet prepared, like myself. This album *is* the new metal though. This album was one of the first, besides "Focus," to ever include real jazz, off-key time signatures influenced by genres like Salsa or Jazz, and an all-together freeform style that blends upwards of ten different styles of music together successfully. This is the operative word; successfully.

Atheist's previous albums were amazing, but they were far less focused than this album. This album centers around songcraft and actually follows pretty fluid progressions compared to anything previous. The second and fourth songs on this album, "Water" and "Air," stand as some of my favirote songs ever, both of which are some of the key songs that were the new direction of Atheist. The drumming was amazing and likewise some of the best I've ever heard in the genre, but they weren't done by Flynn, which is distressing. It's funny though because they sound exactly like his playing style. Regardless, it's still as amazing without him. The writing style of Atheist is completelly intact even though it's a much more straight-forward album. They were sort of forced to even make this album due to contract obligations and I have to wonder how amazing it would have been without the turmoil.

This album also features 3 guitarists due to the Carpal Tunnel diagnosis of their original lead guitarist. I have no clue how it influenced the writing, but it seems to have helped somehow. There is a lot of freeform jazz riffing, a lot of clean guitarwork which almost never happened with Atheist before, and a lot of variety. For me, I think this is the ideal Atheist because it is more refined. As with Death in their later years or Cynic nowadays, their experience imporoved the song direction and allowed them to keep their signature chaos intact, but in a more direct fashion. The songs are now "songs" in every sense of the word. It's less about showing technicality and virtousity and more about better songs. There are songs that I think almost any fan of music could probably listen to and find something to love(minus the vocals, which are always a tough sell).

"Jupiter" sounds like the perfect mix of all three of their previous albums and I can't wait to listen to it tommorrow. I have sincere hope it shows some of the direction this album offered, but everything I've heard so far seems to point towards yes in that department. They are mature musicians in every sense of the word and I think anyone into forward-thinking and well-performed music should try to listen to "Elements". If you can't stomach older Atheist, then try this album if you enjoy Cynic's "Focus" and the like.