Pioneering Central Floridian death metal band Atheist reissues three albums

Atheist already has a beer named after it, but the pioneering Sarasota death metal band has taken another step towards reintroducing itself to music nerds by linking up with French indie imprint Season of Mist for the reissue of three albums that influenced bands like Death, Dillinger Escape Plan, Necrophagist and Spiral Architect.

Piece of Time — Atheist’s classic 1989 debut, home to spiraling songs like “On They Slay” and “I Deny” — is on yellow vinyl while 1991’s Unquestionable Presence (the last album to feature deceased bassist Roger Patterson) got pressed on blue vinyl. Atheist’s 1993 jazz, funk and Latin-influenced masterpiece Elements is on purple wax.

Atheist disbanded after Elements, but frontman Kelly Shaefer and drummer Steve Flynn reconnected and released a fourth album, Jupiter, in 2010. Check your local record stores (or the Season of Mist website) for an important piece of Floridian metal history.

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This article appears in Apr 11-17, 2019.