Atheist...

[VictimOfScience]

Not sure who here would be familiar with these guys but they are one of the most incredible and technically skilled bands out there blending death/thrash metal, jazz, funk, Latin rhythms, flamenco guitar stylings, and samba over their intense and amazing history and alongside fellow Floridian’s DEATH and CYNIC, they handcrafted the subgenre that spawned bands such as MESGHUGGAH, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME and MUDVAYNE.

This is the artwork for their new album (Nov. 8) and it is gorgeous and massive:

After 17 years, the progressive aggressive forefathers reemerge more massive than ever. ATHEIST delivers ''Jupiter'', a landmark return to earth of sonically gargantuan proportions.

A song (Second to Sun) from the album is available in a high-quality stream on their site along with a bunch of their other tunes. Just click on the "Listen to Atheist Radio" button on the right nav. After listening to this song I already know without a doubt that this will be my Album of the Year (despite it being an amazing year for music ).

 

[Bad^Hat]

Tried getting into them via Unquestionable Presence, but their sound was a bit too busy and frantic for my liking. Should probably give some newer stuff a chance, though.

/me puts on Atheist radio

Edit: Haha, holy shit, 17 years? I can see how Cynic may have rubbed off on them (or vice versa).

 

[knut]

i always get this band mixed up with cynic, to a point where whenever i see news related to this upcoming record i get really excited for new cynic

damnit

 

[VictimOfScience]

Cynic is an extremely talented band, but I like the harder aggressiveness of Atheist much more then the prog-ier sound of Cynic most of the time. I like the fact there there is always a ton of stuff going on in their compositions. The video on their site has a nice explanation of how the songs are structured and is a good watch. If I am in the mood for prog though, Cynic are an excellent choice.

 

[soulslicer]

I tried listening to Aethist as well.. after hearing they had jazz metal influences, and were the pioneers of "Meshuggish" Metal, you know the odd time sigs and raw sound with djent here n there. But, their sound is a little too raw for me.

btw, cynic is awesome.