Atheist

Pictures

Listen to, buy or share

Buy

Buy on Amazon Amazon Expand purchase options
  • Digital download
  • Amazon Amazon
  • 7digital 7digital
  • iTunes iTunes
  • Physical media
  • Amazon Amazon Search
  • eBay eBay Search
  • 3,260,704
    scrobbles
  • 90,311
    listeners

Tags

Everyone’s tags

Biography

Sarasota FL, United States (1984 – 1994, 2006 – present)

Atheist is a technical death metal band from Sarasota, Florida, USA and regarded as one of the main developers of Floridian death metal. Their music is highly technical and sometimes reminiscent of jazz, combining brutal riffs with subtle latin music arrangements. They were founded in 1984 under the name Oblivion by guitarist (and later vocalist) Kelly Shaefer and drummer Mark. Mark was later replaced by drummer Steve Flynn because Kelly and Steve had similar musical tastes. Roger Patterson would later join as their bassist.

By early 1985, Oblivion changed their name to R.A.V.A.G.E. (Raging Atheists Vowing A Gory End). As R.A.V.A.G.E., they recruited a singer that is only known by the name of Scrappy. He did not participate on any of the R.A.V.A.G.E. recordings. The first demo was released in 1985 and it was called Kill or Be Killed (also known as the Rotting in Hell demo). The next demo would be the last in 1987 called On They Slay with lead guitarist Mark Scwartzberg.

After their last demo as R.A.V.A.G.E., they changed their moniker to Atheist. They released a couple of demos, Hell Hath No Mercy in 1987 and Beyond in 1988. They recorded their debut album, Piece of Time, in 1988 and it was to be released on the label Mean Machine, but the record label later went bankrupt. Piece of Time thus not released until 1990 on Active. In 1989, another demo was released.
Read more… Edit bio

Featured tracks

Featured tracks

Top Albums

Listening Trend

90,311listeners all time
3,260,704scrobbles all time
Recent listeners trend:

Start scrobbling and track your listening history

Last.fm users scrobble the music they play in iTunes, Spotify, Rdio and over 200 other music players.

Create a Last.fm profile

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up.

  • SupremeDemigod

    They rule, 'nuff said. I saw 'em live in 2009, they were incredible live. One of the best bands of all-time. :D

    8 May 1:36am Reply

  • stanbaim

    Офигенная группа!

    21 Apr 3:34pm Reply

  • JoannaVonB

    Yay, can't wait:)

    17 Apr 8:40pm Reply

  • filippo_ruiner

    @trazomator They are working on a new album that should be released this year!

    17 Apr 6:33pm Reply

  • ikd-sj

    =SAMBA BRIZA= DO! ヽ(ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ

    14 Apr 5:43am Reply

  • traszomator

    Any news on new release? Shit I cant wait. Hope to hear some Tony Choy this time.

    4 Apr 6:06pm Reply

  • DimebagMustaine

    I don't see anything wrong with the production there. It's decent. The album itself, tho, is rather meh. Or maybe it just seems that way because I think of it as an Atheist album.

    31 Mar 9:41am Reply

  • Cassandra-Leo

    Jupiter *is* fucking incredible. It's just a shame about the godawful production.

    29 Mar 7:35pm Reply

  • UnrealAtrocity

    Check out The Conjuration: (http://www.last.fm/music/The+Conjuration) Progressive/Avant-Garde Death Metal with hints of surrealism, psychedelia, and horror. Free album downloads at http://theconjuration.bandcamp.com/

    23 Mar 2:18pm Reply

  • trsmecp

    I can't possibly be the only one that thinks Jupiter is fucking incredible.

    13 Mar 2:41am Reply

  • Steve-Mo

    Yeah, I don't understand why I recalled a part with fretless bass. Oh well.

    10 Mar 11:08pm Reply

  • spacemanBOSE

    IMHO in Jupiter there is a huge lack of a real bass player. I wonder why Choy (or some other good bass player) didn't join the recordings. There is no fretless, only pick-played bass by the guitarist Jonathan Thompson.

    9 Mar 8:27pm Reply

  • Steve-Mo

    What do you mean a pain in the ass? Difficult? I'm going to have to give Jupiter some listens with some headphones though since it's been a long time since I listened to it and always with my poor laptop speakers. Am I incorrect in recalling a small section of fretless bass in Jupiter though?

    9 Mar 4:54pm Reply

  • spacemanBOSE

    to answer to Steve and traszomator, i can't imagine an Atheist record without the Choy's growl of fretted bass too. I love and play fretless, but in this case conversion to fretless is useless. Btw, the bass work of Jupiter (done by the guitar guy) is a pain in the ass. That's a big problem.

    8 Mar 12:49am Reply

  • metalinvader34

    Piece of Cake!

    5 Mar 2:07am Reply

  • DimebagMustaine

    Piece of Time > all. In fact, I think that they went progressively worse on each new album. That isn't to say that any of the albums is musically a failure.

    25 Feb 3:30pm Reply

  • Steve-Mo

    Exactly, the percussive bass is a huge part of their sound. The mere thought of a full-time conversion to fretless is objectively stupid.

    25 Feb 7:24am Reply

  • traszomator

    Atheist with fretless bass? You gotta be kiddng me. Atheist' punchy bass sound kills. It's some kind of trend to have a fretless bass in a band that plays prog deatm metal

    22 Feb 1:01pm Reply

  • Steve-Mo

    Travis Morgan (former live performer of PsyOpus) was with Atheist between Choy's latest stints, FYI.

    9 Feb 3:13am Reply

  • AzazelBM

    Atheist only had two bass players: Roger Patterson and Tony Choy, therefore I am very sure the man in the video is Tony Choy.

    8 Feb 10:40am Reply
    • All 2160 shouts

Listening Now

Top Listeners