''Unquestionable Presence'' is the second album by the

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band

Atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. It was released in 1991 and added a new sound by using

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

-like harmonies, subtle Latin rhythms and unusual time signatures.

Content

It is considered a landmark album in the genre of

technical death metal Technical death metal (also referred to as tech-death) is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Techni ...

. Bassist Roger Patterson wrote the bass lines for ''Unquestionable Presence'', but died in a touring van accident before the recording sessions took place. His work, however, can be heard on the pre-production demos included with the 2005 re-release.

Tony Choy Tony Choy (born June 11, 1971) is a Cuban-American electric bassist. He was a session musician for some well-known technical death metal bands such as Atheist (band), Atheist, Cynic (band), Cynic and the Dutch band Pestilence (band), Pestilence. ...

was brought in as a replacement to play bass on the album.

Critical reception

James Hinchcliffe described the album in ''Terrorizer'' as "the very pinnacle of scorching yet brain-twisting technical metal". Phil Freeman in ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime film, crime drama Television show, television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The ...

'' (issue 261, p. 53) described ''Unquestionable Presence'' as a "more complex and progressive album, every song rocketing through multiple tricky time signatures and endless variations on already baffling riffs." In October 2005, ''Unquestionable Presence'' was inducted into the

Decibel Magazine ''Decibel'' is a monthly heavy metal magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media since October 2004. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame. The magazine's tag-line is currentl ...

Hall of Fame being the ninth album overall to be featured in the Decibel Hall of Fame.

Track listing

All lyrics by Kelly Shaefer. All music composed by Atheist.

2005 re-release

In 2005,

Relapse Records Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists. History The label was ...

re-released Unquestionable Presence. This edition has been digitally remastered, and features nine bonus tracks.

Personnel

* Kelly Shaefer –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

* Rand Burkey –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

* Steve Flynn –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Roger Patterson – bass (on tracks 9–15 on 2005 re-release) * Scott Burns – production *

– production * Justice Mitchell – cover artwork

References

{{Authority control 1991 albums Atheist (band) albums Active Records albums Relapse Records albums Albums produced by Scott Burns (record producer) Albums recorded at Morrisound Recording Jazz fusion albums Technical death metal albums Progressive metal albums