ELEMENTS

After an album like Unquestionable Presence, I didn't think Atheist could have possibly matched it with their swan song, Elements. My, how wrong I was. This is easily as good as UP was; however, do not think of this as part two of Atheist's sophomore effort. Both albums are very unique in the realm of death metal and very different from each other.

The focus here is still very death metal infused with complex jazz rhythms and what I still think is one of the best rhythm sections in metal. Unlike Unquestionable Presence, this album is more focused on the subtle Latin rhythms in comparison to the previous release which focused on all-out aggression. This is still very aggressive music for most proggers; however I believe that many more will find this a slightly more accessible medium into Atheist than their other two albums.

Once again, the rhythm section takes very prominent notice on this album. This also happens to be much more experimental grounds than anything Atheist has done up to this point. This is very noticeable on the several very short songs/interludes, some of which are very melodic and even include bits of piano in them, especially the very Latin-esque Samba Briza. Green, Animal, and the title track which concludes the album are some of the highlights here, although every track really stands out strongly. If you enjoy any of Atheist's other albums, I highly recommend this then, as it's certainly a standout metal album. Atheist has reformed and a new album after a nearly 15 year hiatus is expected sometime later this year. If it continues in the direction that they set on Elements, I will be hardly disappointed. This is a fantastic fusion of jazz and death metal, and most certainly deserves 5 stars.

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