Ranking the Studio Albums: Atheist (w/John McEntee)

[@TimmyTantrum]

My personal list: 1. Unquestionable Presence 2. Piece of Time 3. Elements 4. Jupiter Quality from front to back, I play these albums proudly and loudly.

[@kenwhite8103]

Pete, excellent choice inviting John over to your channel. I really enjoy hearing his takes on all genres of music. Would love to see him back on again soon.

[@neuroisis85]

Love Incantation, John seems like such a chill guy and he knows his stuff. Really great guest you got there Pete.

[@chiragchittar4179]

Wow what a surprise guys!! And bringing the legend that is John! Glad to see some extreme metal on the show. Atheist are definitely one of the most unique and singular bands in metal. I admit I am not the biggest fan but I still love some of the sections of their songs. Fantastic musicianship and what an influential band. Kudos to you guys for making this happen! My top 5 1. Unquestionable presence 2. Piece of time 3. Elements 4. Jupiter

[@chiragchittar4179]

It's interesting that pete mentions pestilence (amazing shout out btw) where they would incorporate jazz into their solos but not change the make up of their songs. I actually feel one of their albums which though had extreme vocals and some death metal songs, it had a lot of out there and spacey jazz fusion songs. This album was called spheres and on that album I did feel that the jazz fusion dominated the style to an extent of changing the make up of the songs. However, that's an anomaly by them and overall I do agree to what pete is saying. Interestingly, the bassist on that album jeroen later joined the tech death powerhouses obscura and played on their first two records.

[@meloralovesdarkness2495]

Pete, I am surprised that you never have talked about Pestilence more, with how Jazzy they were.. Testimony and Spheres are both Awesome, with this element!

[@James-uf3mh]

He did

[@jimmyandersson59]

Nice. Atheists are legends. Welcome aboard John to Sea of tranquillity. Great show guys. More technical death metal i'm been looking forward of.

[@patrickcampbell1173]

I had the opportunity to see Atheist a few weeks before the passing of Roger Patterson. They opened for Candlemass at the Avalon in Chicago. Having seen hundreds of musical acts over the years, this was easily the most impressive bass guitar performance I have ever seen. Super tight playing, and that kid was a flurry of activity onstage. Great channel- thanks!

[@dougmcauliffe2253]

I’ve been been obsessed with this band for the few months, I love their whole discography so much 1: Unquestionable Presence 2: Elements 3: Piece of Time 4: Jupiter (still great)

[@loudlawnmower]

My list as well! Cheers

[@nelsonshuchmacherendebo7688]

Fucking awesome show! Do more death metal stuff with John, Pete. This was a blast to watch! My ranking is 1) Unquestionable Presence 2) Piece of Time 3) Elements 4) Jupiter

[@einarassipavicius1991]

1. Elements (one of my all time favourite albums, it's jazzy, delicate, provocative and heavy at the same time. Pure bliss!) 2. Unquestionable Presence 3. Jupiter 4. Piece of Time (it's almost sad to put this album in 4th, great album, but I feel the style is not quite fully formed)

[@charleswood123]

I loved these guys back in the day. Johns a great guest. You should do an incantation episode with him. I’m not too familiar with their newer stuff and they’ve got quite a few albums

[@erikberg5363]

Are you talking about an album ranking? That’s an interesting idea, having a musician rank their own albums!

[@johnmichaelwilliams6694]

A lot of death metal is challenging for me to listen to but John's participation in this show and the discussion of what he and Pete did or do like or not like in certain music was highly enjoyable and wanted to be sure to thank John for his time and appearance. Definitely hoping that you two will do another show or two. Thanks, John and Pete, for such an interesting discussion and episode.

[@jonathanneville7105]

Huge Incantation fan here (thanks for playing Seattle!) and huge Sea of Tranquility fan (own shirts for both haha). This is one of my favorite episodes. Nice mash-up!

[@johnwilliams4658]

My favorite guest yet. Love to see a ranking video for Incantation and Immolation. 2 of my favorite DM bands. Thanks for this video - very enjoyable!

[@jkl2000]

I've never really even heard of this band, and just 15 minutes into this ranking video, I'm now listening to the albums and loving this band! This is awesome music, and I'm now a fan! Thanks, Pete and John. The power of SoT!

[@docdeens4030]

McEntee is awesome. All his shows have been great lately

[@michaelpurnell5203]

4. Piece of Time 3. Elements 2. Jupiter 1. Unquestionable Presence Fantastic band, and as a tech death enthusiast they’re one of my favorites. I haven’t spent as much time with Piece of Time as I have their other albums, but it’s still great. Also shoutout to John and Incantation, Sect of Vile Divinities was one of my favorites last year

[@chetgreblowski7811]

Great to see John on the channel, let's see more of him

[@julianortiz4151]

Sick!! Couldn’t hit play fast enough when I saw this come up in my YT feed. Love Atheist, love John and Incantation and his side band Tribe of Pazuzu, and of course love Pete and this channel. My Rank: This was super hard choosing between those first two albums. But I really love everything from them. 1. Piece of Time (RIP, Roger 🤘🏼) 2. Unquestionable Presence 3. Elements 4. Jupiter

[@erikberg5363]

Awesome show! I would love to see more extreme metal stuff on the channel and John would be a great guest to have on for those type of shows (as well as Nick Franco and Ryan Scow of course)

[@MegaBollog]

That was great fun. I love both channels. Great personalities and fantastic knowledge. Thank you.

[@neugey]

From your description, definitely starting with the first album. I'm a big admirer of Scott Burns on the Deicide, Sepultura and Death albums so I'm looking forward to it.

[@biorythmicshifter]

I just mentioned Roger Patterson on the favorite bass player episode, what a coincidence. Glad to see Atheist wasn’t forgotten. They where so ahead of the pack back on the day...thought of it after John mentioned it, an episode on Dead Brain Cells would be nice (hint,hint)...

[@tonyeckman4822]

Interesting discussion. R.I.P Roger Patterson!

[@markwilliams8829]

Great show. John is a great guest love Athiest and Incantation 🤘🏻

[@TGTR-06660]

Awesome guest, Incantation is one of my favorite death metal bands (maybe the number one), and your channel is fantastic. Also, Atheist. Need say no more. Thanks!

[@purpletemple1]

Just found a box set with all 4 albums! Thnx for the tip about that band!

[@brandonbelt5055]

The first two albums are so fucking good! And I concur, that's it's nice finding out what a cool, thoughtful guy John is on the Rock Fantasy channel and here.

[@patriceye3892]

Back in the days my old school death trash metal mind hate Elements with passion. Atheist we're already far ahead of their time with Piece of time and unquestionable presence and Elements was way too much for me too handle. 1993 was the years for metal to expand beyond its own boundaries with release like, Believer Dimensions, Cynic Focus, Anacrusis Screams and whispers and of course Atheist Elements! Éléments is a rare fusion of exotic, intricate riffs, funky, Jazz and death metal.That was a very bold move .Now Elements is my favorite Atheist albums by far and also a one of a kind album.

[@emersonsellsout]

More death metal content PLZ!

[@richbillionair]

What’s the fascination with Cookie Monster vocals?

[@emersonsellsout]

@@richbillionair they sound cool and are awesome.

[@hecatecrossways2505]

@@richbillionair too many episodes of Sesame St at an early age

[@Ibexmoonrecords]

I agree that some quote "cookie monster vocals" are totaly lame, but when done right and with real feeling and passion they fill a gap in heavy music. Like everything, they are a acquired taste and purposely not ment for everyone. Nothing wrong with some music being rebellious. In a way isn't that what metal was always ment to be in the first place.

[@MosoKaiser]

@@richbillionair A matter of having vocals that fit the music.

[@buddhabillybob]

Great review of a great band! Thanks!

[@diarmuidmcnally1300]

Great appreciation of one of the pioneers of technical death metal. I think Atheist are one of the few bands that you don’t necessarily have to be a death metal fan to like.

[@drumkit666]

Any possibility of a Coroner, Anacrusis or Mekong Delta Ranking the albums???

[@dragonfly1694]

A great follow-up would be ranking the albums of their peers SADUS, another pioneer of hybrid extreme thrash/death that got more progressive & refined with each release. PS - Tony Choy also played in PESTILENCE & CYNIC but not DEATH. Roger Patterson RIP

[@AsphyxGr]

Great interview, thanks to John McEntee for mentioning Roger Patterson, in my opinion in the top of the line regarding Florida DM scene bassists. Killer player, he was hitting hard, his ideas were unique and his style is greatly missed. Unquestionable Presence changed my way of thinking musically but Piece of Time will always be my favorite.

[@sadekx5251]

About time you start including some extreme metal with a legend. I adore their first 2 albums although I never cared about Kelly's vocals, also I don't see a big similarities between he and Chuck. It's funny how perstilence got so much crap for spheres, which was way more metal than elements. How about a pestilence ranking now?

[@GabAssbreaker]

John is a legend!!!! What a pleasant surprise. Love Atheist too btw

[@donaldcady3839]

I had the Atheist demo. It was mindblowing.

[@James-uf3mh]

You guys nailed this soo many great musicians for me metal has as been more like a community cheers guys

[@lostinspace2009]

Two thumps up ,john has a future as a tuber.. or Lord of the Rings cosplay..

[@nicholasmendonca2716]

.., i was introduced to the world of American Death Metal through earlier years published heavy metal magazines: HIT PARADER, METAL EDGE (having miniature features in a mostly mainstream metal environs) and as time proceeded, there were compilations from various record labels (bands such as MASTER, CANNIBAL CORPSE, DEICIDE, MORBID ANGEL, MALEVOLENT CREATION, NILE, VITAL REMAINS) adding a few that i may consider being a fan of POSSESSED, OBITUARY and SIX FEET UNDER .. .., there were also the more technical of acts that introduced progressive and jazz elements (one of my major faves, being DEATH in which host the godfather of the genre: Chuck Schuldiner - r.i.p) others were CYNIC and ATHEIST (suggesting, the disbelief in God) the band's lyrical presentations are of proportions in addressing corruption, anti-religion, morality, nature and politics .., i recalled sighting the cover artwork of their 2nd album: "Unquestionable Presence" in a magazine and immediately thought that this maybe interesting! - not becoming intimidated by the band's moniker (name), already at the time having heard and initiated into the likes of MERCYFUL FATE and VENOM: acts of which their earliest of efforts are thought of in a high influential regard on thrash, death and black metal .. 1st album: "Piece of Time" kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHanqYKth7GWi6c .., a purchase that i had made many moons ago on vinyl in at Power Play (Long Circular Mall, St. James, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad) i didn't bother to open the sealed package at the store to sample on their record player (waited until my vacation was over and upon returning home to Guyana) unveiled and had my first hearing and impressed i was with the production and the immediate reminiscences of material by a couple of my favorite bands: DEATH and KREATOR .. 2nd album: "Unquestionable Presence" kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4GTZY2igsZrpK8 .., finally having the opportunity to lend a hearing to this (underrated and brilliant sounding) that's no doubt a masterpiece .. 3rd album: "Elements" kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2Oui5awgdpmmqs .., amongst the finest of jazz or multi-fusion metal releases that i've heard! .. 4th album: "Jupiter" kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHrbnGWbfs2rl9E .., this is "Nothingface" (VOIVOD) meets "Symbolic" (DEATH) ..

[@j.j.4150]

John is great! Also, I am still convinced that he is a 30 year old guy in disguise haha.

[@Rextum]

Atheist, Pestilence (Testimony and Spheres), Death (in the 90s), Sadist (Tribe and self-titled), Neglected Fields (Synthinity), Misanthrope (Visionnaire and Immortel), Necrophagist, Gorod, Obscura, Faceless and Vektor, Mr Bungle and Igorrr. Bands that I am way to dumb to understand, but love anyway!

[@fergalholmes]

John’s a great guy. Atheist...what a band! 1. Unquestionable Presence 2. Piece Of Time 3. Jupiter 4. Elements

[@sadpipi6934]

I`m so late to the party it`s not even funny. Just discovered these guys and LOVING IT!!!!!!! Bought the first two. Two more to go, for sure

[@hellojimmypage]

Shaefer vocals on the second album are kinda like Scott Jeffreys from Confessor, quirky beyond belief. Personally could never get into that singing but instrumentally fine stuff!

[@Rextum]

My favorite is the fastest and heaviest one, Jupiter. It is crazy good especially considering the long break they had. Next best to me is Piece of Time. And Unquestionable Presence ain’t half bad either. Very cool band, even Elements has Samba Briza and other cool shit👍🏻

[@rendumen]

Really awesome!! Sadus next 🤘

[@747jono]

Isn't wonderful that people talk so much sense

[@Crypticstench90]

Atheist rules! And damn I think John is wearing a Corpsevomit shirt, a band from my area (Chicago) which is really fuckin cool!

[@chrismuimbwa6424]

Sending my love!

[@fraserdawson2913]

very underrated band but very good and they played here in Houston a few years ago

[@metamorphis216]

well my list is exactly the opposite but great vid ;) , and Faux means Fake in french, it''s the fake king christ

[@douglasboggs85]

Great show pete

[@gordy3714]

You should do ranking the Tourniquet albums.

[@747jono]

Steve Keeler is awesome

[@James-uf3mh]

Tony chow amazing rodgerrip I love John myung sorry for the misspelling

[@mytholictim]

29:10 not only Atheist but also Cynic and Death... uhm, I know you meant to say Cynic and Pestilence as you already mentioned Pestilence ;-)

[@juliocesaralbuquerque1466]

John looks like Max Cavalera brother from Sepultura.

[@hectorescobar9450]

Yeah, that's the one thing I get put off by Atheist also, sometimes extremely random in your face jazz elements that seem to at times clash with some of the more metal groves

[@donaldcady3839]

Roger Patterson

[@donaldcady3839]

John🔥💀🔥

[@ritualdeathmetal]

John looks like Death Metal Santa

[@petrilampela]

It's so strange for me to hear you say Elements is too complicated because for me it's easily the most accessible of their albums, especially following the second album which is WAY more technical and has those start/stop moments and tempo changes every few seconds. It's like hearing someone say Hold Your Fire is too proggy and complicated and digging Hemispheres instead 😅

[@donaldcady3839]

Maniac bass player. RIP

[@amasvodka]

Jupiter is absurdly underrated by fans. To my ears, it's one of the strongest comeback albums ever and far superior to anything Cynic did after Focus.

[@SuperStrik9]

My favorite Atheist album is my avatar 😉😀Elements.

[@lening9]

1) Unquestionable Presence 2) Piece of Time 3) Elements 4) Jupiter

[@jumpfart666]

Roger Patterson is GOD

[@tonyeckman4822]

I agree

[@chadvandam7179]

There’s a band called atheist? I want to check this out!

[@hectorescobar9450]

I still think John has some strange ridiculous biases. This is based on his thoughts on bands like Death, Suffocation and Atheist

[@trinitymatrix9719]

The music is just too messy and unstructured for my likings.sorry all...

[@arturoalmazan5262]

it would be great if you ranked actual death metal bands albums like Nile , Behemoth, Vader , Obituary, Benediction, Unleashed

[@hecatecrossways2505]

Atheist was an actual Death Metal band years before most of the bands you named existed . There definitely would be no Nile if not for bands like Athiest

[@arturoalmazan5262]

@@hecatecrossways2505 I disagree. go listen to. a nile album it's at top speed. no jazz or prog stuff dude.

[@arturoalmazan5262]

@@hecatecrossways2505 there would be no atheist if it weren't for Possesed or death too

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

I've already ranked the Nile catalog.

[@arturoalmazan5262]

@@seaoftranquilityprog ok my bad. thank you for the information sir

[@arturoalmazan5262]

a strange band . I wouldn't call them death metal. more like experimental rock. I never got into them . the Dillinger escape plan are similar. it's a weird genre that I didn't get into. they incorporated jazz and metal its weird

[@hecatecrossways2505]

Black Sabbath incorporated jazz into Metal songs back in 1970

[@arturoalmazan5262]

@@hecatecrossways2505 only after master of reality dude. vol 4 ; Sabbath bloody sabbath they incorporated those jazz elements

[@stevepwn]

i agree its not my type of music

[@hecatecrossways2505]

@@arturoalmazan5262 listen to A Bit of Finger , Wicked World , and Fairies Wear Boots . The clean guitar parts are jazz based , Warpigs , and Fairies Wear Boots both contain Jazz Swing percussion

[@arturoalmazan5262]

@@hecatecrossways2505 fair enough. they did those jazzy songs. in those albums.