During the initial explosion of death metal, one band stood out as a very unique property amidst the sea of gore - Atheist.  These guys seemed to take a much more serious approach, unleashing some incredibly technical and progressive material.  The band only stayed together for three albums, but their impact is still being felt to this day.  Continuing demand for the band's material has generated new interest and some recent re-releases.  Kelly Shaefer takes us down memory lane...

Atheist always seemed to get lumped into the 'death metal' category. Did that surprise or bother you at all?
No not really, I mean at the time it bothered us a bit, but lets face it, even though its very different death metal, its still "death metal" but I think it has taken a lot of years for some to realize and except the music of "atheist."

Were/are you into death metal in general?
I appreciate the energy of death metal, especially in a live setting, its much more effective I think live. In the early 90's yes I was very very into death metal, as well as many other kinds of music, I am basically a music lover, the only kind of music I will not listen to is boy band shit, country and opera, all of that music annoys the shit out of me!!! 3. What lead to the break-up of Atheist? Well after losing roger, it had been an uphill climb all the way, trying to find a bass player that even compared was almost impossible at the time, and we were all not getting along very well, plus the band was not appreciated as it is today, most in the genre thought we were too crazy sounding, and it has taken 10 years for it to make sense to most, so all of those things led to the demise of the band, Steve had college in mind, I had another band in mind, that being Neurotica (my current band, so we just could not achieve what we had originally planned on trying to accomplish, so we called it a day!

Do you feel like Atheist accomplished everything you wanted or was there still more you wanted to do? 
Shit there was a lot we wanted to do, but just could not do, after losing roger, we were forced to try to make it work, and the tools were not the same you know what I mean, I could not find a drummer like Steve Flynn anywhere, and most likely will never find another like him. We wanted to tour Europe w/ Steve, but instead we toured w/ a session drummer, and it was just not the same.

What have you been doing with yourself since then? 
Well my new band neurotica is doing great, we signed w/ NMG entertainment in 1998 w/ Brian Johnson from ac/dc producing our first record (we do not sound like ac/dc though) and we have been pursuing the dream quite healthily for the last few years, we are currently on the verge of a major record deal, so hopefully you will be hearing a lot more about it in the coming months, we just released our 2nd record in Nov, its called "living in dog years" we have toured quite a bit in the states.  www.neurotica.net  check it out!!

Do you keep in touch with the other members of Atheist? If so, what are they up to?
Yes for the most part, I talk to Rand all the time, and Steve as well, Steve is a business man in Atlanta doing really well, Rand is still here in Fla. working on a project w/ the former crimson glory singer "midnight" they are all doing great, we hope to get back together this year and maybe do some new songs.

What prompted the recent re-issues? 
Well it seemed like the right time to do it considering the recent wave of prog metal coming from Europe, and the influence that Atheist had on it, coupled w/ the fact that the albums have not been available for 7 years, so we just decoded now was the time to re introduce people to the original. Some people were paying up to 40 bucks on ebay for the used c.d.'s so that had to stop, we put some unreleased stuff we had laying around, and that a lot of people were looking for on trading lists, this way everyone can have a fresh copy to replace there old cassettes with.

Is there any thought of an Atheist re-union?
Yes but it would only be for a few shows, like festivals, if someone approaches the band about it then we would consider it, I am however quite bust touring w/ neurotica, but the guys seem like they would be into a few shows, and as I said we might record a few new tunes.

Did you have any label problems during your years with Atheist?
Yes you could say that hahaha  We had nothing but label problems, they also did not understand the impact that Atheist could have if properly promoted, I think metal blade did a great job in the states, and keep in  mind they were only licensing the record, yet they still gave the band tour support on many occasions, but on the other side of the water it was a fucking joke, they ripped us off, never paid us , never sent us statements, nothing!!! No tour support, they sucked!!! Dave constable is a fucking crook, and I hope he reads this you fucking thief!!!!!

I understand you worked with Mark Pinske on the last album. How did you hook up with him? What kind of things did he bring to the recording session that weren't there before?
Well I was really looking forward to working with him cause he had worked on 6 frank Zappa records, and were all huge Zappa fans, he brought a lot of technical recording knowledge to the project, but oddly enough he overmodulated our guitars on the Elements album and caused a bit of digital distortion on some parts of the record, I guess he had never really recorded guitars that were that distorted, so that kind of sucked, but he was a cool guy with a ton of stories, I like Mark I would love to work with him again in the future

What other producers did you work with?
Scott Burns was the only other producer we have worked with for Atheist, he was great, he really understood what Atheist was all about, I love Scott, he is a great person, hard working mutherfucker that's for sure.

I would like to just get your feelings now, looking back on all three Atheist albums (how happy you are with the material, any standout memories from the recordings sessions, etc.):

· Piece of Time- 
Lots of pot, tons of fun, very little time

· Unquestionable Presence 
On a mission, very focused, still lots of pot, missing roger!!!

· Elements- 
Album written and recorded in 40 days top to bottom, chaos, still missing roger, and now steve too, very productive songwriting though

Atheist is often name-dropped by the more progressive metal bands of today. Are you at all surprised by the lasting impact your music has had?
Sure, I think it is always really nice to be appreciated, we had always hoped that we would be able to make timeless music, as I think everyone does, but you never think it will actually happen, I think the thing that makes me the happiest, is the fact that Roger's name and music is still alive and well and touching a lot of people. I only wish that people had appreciated it a bit more while we were around you know hahah

What are your thoughts on how the death metal (and metal in general) scene has evolved over the past decade? Any thoughts on black metal?
Well I must say that I am quite surprised that the genre is still thriving like it is, but I think that's great though, I think it has progressed a bit, but I would love to hear more stuff that's a bit more  musically challenging, but there are a few bands out there pushing the envelope, but not enough. I have no thoughts on black metal, if you are speaking of that church burning bullshit going on in Norway, those people are not worthy of being mentioned in an article about music, they are too concerned with how big their upside down crosses are hahahah I do not dig it at all.

In metal terms, 'Atheist' isn't that provocative of a name, but I was curious if you ever got any static from people outside of the scene over the name. 
Oh yeah, it was a constant topic of conversation, even in the death metal world, but I would just tell them, hey its a powerful name for a band making some powerful music, get over it hahaha

Looking at the metal scene as a whole, why do you think religion is such a major subject for so many bands?
Well I think it might have a bit to do with the fact that there are so many religions to contradict, that it makes it easy to piss people off when you write something that defaces a particular sector of religion, and death and black metal has always been a bit about pissing off the mainstream.

How long have you been on the Internet? What are your thoughts about the medium and its social impact?
Love it love it, if we had the internet in the late 80's early 90's death metal would have grown even faster and stronger I think,  its an amazing tool for communication, and interaction. It is however having a strange impact on our social values, more people are staying home and developing these relationships through the computer, and never even looking people in the eye, yet they call them friends, that's a bit strange to have a great friend you have never even met, it creates a bit of antisocial behavior, but for the most part it has single handedly changed the world.

Did you do much touring with Atheist? Are there any parts of the world you'd still like to visit? 
Yes we did 2 European tours, and 2 American tours, we did not get to visit Spain, or Brasil those place I think would have loved Atheist, we would have liked to played there but it did not happen, France as well would have been cool.

Thanks for taking the time to do this interview man, we sure appreciate it, good luck with your publication. - Kelly