Atheist (band)

Atheist is a death metal band from Florida, USA, founded under the name R.A.V.A.G.E. (which stands for Raging Atheists Vowing A Gory End), whose music was technical and sometimes reminiscent of jazz. They combined brutal riffs with subtle latin music arrangements.

They recorded their debut album, Piece of Time, in 1988, but had to wait until 1990 to release it. In 1991, bassist Roger Patterson died in a car accident and Atheist recruited Tony Choy to record their second album, the now classic Unquestionable Presence. Atheist disbanded for the first time in 1992, reuniting in 1993 and recording their last album Elements before disbanding for the second time.

Kelly Schaefer played with Neurotica until 2002. Tony Choy played in a number of other bands, including Pestilence and Cynic.

Relapse Records re-issued the band's three albums in late 2005, as well as a vinyl box set containing the three albums plus the R.A.V.A.G.E. demo On They Slay. Former drummer Steve Flynn has recently re-emerged in a new band called Gnostic [1].

In the beginning of 2006, Atheist announced they were regrouping to perform live during the summer and fall of 2006. The line-up will be Schaefer, Burkey, Choy and Flynn. Shaefer will be only handling vocals due to long battles with tendonitis and carpal tunnel. Gnostic guitarist Sonny Carson will be handling all of Shaefers guitar duties. Recently Chris Baker of Gnostic has been filling in for Burkey because of legal troubles.

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