PIECE OF TIME

I went to a CANDLEMASS gig back in 1990/91 where ATHEIST was the support act. It is pretty difficult to find two more different bands than these two bands. They were on the same record label and that's why they were on the same bill. Anyway, ATHEIST blew the audience away with their breakneck speed and time shifts. I and most of the audience was standing there with a big question mark in our faces. ATHEIST was well ahead of their time. Perhaps ten to fifteen years ahead of their time. These days, their fanbase is at least ten times bigger than it was when this album was released. I bought it because I liked extreme metal/death metal. ATHEIST played that music and I therefore bought this album by default. Back in 1990, very few death metal albums was released. Maybe around ten albums. ATHEIST and this album just stood out from the scene and nobody knew what to think about it. It was an enigma.

The best track on this album opens the ball. A memorable track with a good hook. The rest of the songs are not in the same league. This album is full of ultra-technical death metal with time-shifts every five seconds, played in a breakneck speed. It is speed and death metal, but not as we knows it. The music is the anti-thesis of melodic. Even death metal is melodic and structured to a certain degree. But not this album. Fusion ? Well, maybe it is that. But I did not know the meaning of the word when I bought it back in 1990. The sound is pretty bad and it let's down this album big time. The chaotic songs which I am still not able to grasp does not do this band any favour either. The bass by the sorely missed Roger Patterson is very good and it dominates this album. The title track, the bass and some good riffs inbetween the chaotic tunes is the best thing about this album. I am not sure if ATHEIST knew what they were doing on this album. Twenty years later, this album is still an enigma to me. Despite of this; I still likes it. The naivity of it all and the freshness. The attitude and the cheek of it all. I have a soft spot for this album and ATHEIST.

3 stars

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