Atheist - Reunion 2006

Atheist is a progressive death/thrash metal band from Florida, USA, founded in 1984, whose music was technical and sometimes reminiscent of jazz. They combined brutal riffs with subtle latin music arrangements and jazz breakdowns. Their second album, Unquestionable Presence, released in 1991, has been regarded by some critics as one of the most influential technical death metal albums of all-time.
The band was founded in 1984 in Florida, USA, firstly under the name Oblivion and later R.A.V.A.G.E. (which stands for Raging Atheists Vowing A Gory End). They recorded their debut album, Piece of Time, in 1988, which was not released until 1990. In 1991, bassist Roger Patterson perished in a car accident and Atheist recruited Tony Choy to record their second album, the now classic Unquestionable Presence. Atheist disbanded for the first time in 1992, reuniting in 1993 and recording their last album Elements, fulfilling their contractual requirements, before disbanding for the second time.
Kelly Shaefer played with Neurotica until 2002, whereas Tony Choy played in a number of other bands, including Pestilence and Cynic.
Relapse Records re-issued the band's three albums in late 2005, as well as a vinyl box set containing the three albums plus the R.A.V.A.G.E. demo On They Slay. Former drummer Steve Flynn has recently re-emerged in a new band called Gnostic.
In the beginning of 2006, Atheist announced they were regrouping to perform live during the summer and fall of 2006. The line-up will be Shaefer, Burkey, Choy and Flynn. Shaefer will be only providing vocals due to long battles with tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. Gnostic guitarist Sonny Carson will be handling all of Shaefer's guitar parts. Recently Chris Baker of Gnostic has been replacing Burkey because of legal troubles.