Atheist

Atheist come from Sarasota, Florida, where the band played under the names Oblivion and R.A.V.A.G.E. before settling on Atheist. The classic line-up featured Kelly Shaefer on vocals and rhythm guitar, Rand Burkey on lead guitar, Roger Patterson on bass and Steve Flynn on drums.

The debut album Piece of Time appeared in 1989. In February 1991 Roger Patterson was killed in a van accident while the band was returning home from a tour with Candlemass. Former Cynic bassist Tony Choy was brought in to record the bass parts on Unquestionable Presence, released later in 1991.

The band broke up soon afterwards but regrouped to record Elements, released in 1993, before splitting again. Atheist then remained inactive for more than a decade.

Atheist reformed in 2006 with Shaefer, Burkey, Choy and Flynn and played European festivals that summer, with Shaefer now concentrating on vocals. Choy did not take part in the recording of the next album.

Jupiter, the band’s fourth studio album and first in seventeen years, was released by Season of Mist in November 2010. It reunited Shaefer and Flynn with a partly new group of musicians, guitarists Chris Baker and Jonathan Thompson.

In the years that followed the line-up changed several times, and no further album appeared. By 2025 Shaefer was joined by bassist Yoav Ruiz-Feingold, guitarists Jerry Witunsky and Alex Haddad and drummer Dylan Marks, and the band’s four albums had been reissued through Nuclear Blast. Atheist toured widely in 2025, and Shaefer said that about six new songs had been written for a follow-up to Jupiter, which had not been released as of 2026.

Line-up: Kelly Shaefer (vocals), Jerry Witunsky (guitar), Alex Haddad (guitar), Yoav Ruiz-Feingold (bass), Dylan Marks (drums)