I've always preferred Atheist because I think Unquestionable Presence is probably one of the best metal albums of all time.
But, lately I've been listening to Focus more and more, not too sure why. I liked Cynic's demos from the early 90s because they were more thrashier/death but now Focus is spinning more and more.

I don't think we'll ever see any American bands putting out albums like Focus and Unquestionable Presence for quite some time. Which band's style or take do you prefer and why.

Atheist is one of those bands i really want to delve into but keep forgetting to purchase their music.

Focus is brillian though

I don't prefer either. I love em both. And whenever i think of one of them, the other pops into my head.

Pestilence - Spheres
=)

Haha I was going to mention Spheres. Best $4 I ever spent. I must say Enthralled in Essence by Atheist is one of my ffavorite songs ever though.

Cynic rules but the fruity vocoder vocals still give me the douche chillz. Soooooooo lame. Atheist all the way- though the Cynic demos rule way more than Focus.

are talking about focus from the 1960's ?
definatly worth looking up focus ( hokus pokus is good song ) even if you are are only into metal . they are weird but very talented

Vocoder vocals rule, as long as they aren't applied to some shitty R&B song.

that cher song with the vocoder vocals is amazing.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN LIFE AFTER LOVE?
I CAN FEEL SOMETHING INSIDE ME SAY
I REALLY DON'T THINK YOU'RE STRONG ENOUGH

FIGHT CHER OR YOU ARE A PUSSY

Justin Broadrick knows how to correctly utilize a vocoder. When used, he sounds like a Robot strung out on Heroin, and I'm down with that.

Unquestionable Presence has soul.

Focus has happy vibes and random fusion/speed metal riffs.

Cynic has nothing on Atheist, although both bands are awesome.

Super hard back'd.

Broadrick can do no wrong. Except some of that Final shit. That was kinda weak.

Regardless of the vocoder vocals on Focus, it still somewhat has a "unique" sound to it, if you know what I mean.
But I think the vocoder vocals were a little over done.

Agreed.

He has no fear of experimentation, which I appreciate.

I don't know much of cynic, but Atheist has some good shit though some albums are crap.
I don't care how complex a band can be. Crap is pretentious crap.

They only have 3 albums. I'm assuming you're talking about Elements because that was their last one and also had the worst production. They wrote/recorded/produced that album in 40 days because the band was breaking up and they needed to complete their contract deal.

Elements is not a bad album in my opinion. I'm kinda skeptical about the new Atheist coming out, after that band"Neurotica" that Kelly had going on.

Athiest hands down. Never really got into Cynic, way to artsy and mellow for my taste.

I don't recall which album it was but it was rather obnoxious.

both bands were doing stuff then that people now are doing and having their fans "lose their shit" over it. I can't believe how well both have aged.

It's only right and proper that Watchtower be mentioned in this thread. If you wanna talk "ahead of its time" - let's talk ENERGETIC DISASSEMBLY. CONTROL AND RESISTANCE was rad but ENERGETIC just fuckin gets me right in the vas deferens.

Yeah, "Elements" is total fucking garbage (TFG). It's phish with double the faggotry center.

http://www.anus.com/metal/atheist

Anus.com is retarded... that site has catalogued a ton of good bands, but those reviews are the most laughable, nonsensical, and pseudo intellectual bullshit ive ever read. They sound like some guy who took a philosophy class at community college and tried to apply it to metal reviews, while making absolutely no sense at all. Gayest shit.

They only seem to annoy those who haven't made it to the philosophy class at community college level.

Annoy or befuddle? Big difference. Whoever writes those reviews is retarded, and I can only assume they make sense to those of equally low intelligence or operating on some autistic level.

I've always suspected the latter, myself.

Sounds like sour grapes to me!

No sour grapeage here. After wading through several paragraphs of concentrated Aspergers, I've determined that their review of the first Capharnaum CD was a good one. I actually enjoy ANUS.com - particularly enjoy the Audiofile forum. I just suspect some mild autism behind the scenes... and there's nothing wrong with that.

I think we all are.

Autism? Interesting allegation, first heard in about 1997, but never proven or investigated.

However, it really depends on what you like to read. For philosophy geeks and certain computer programmers, the site's a lot of fun.

I've been listening to Elements all this week. Although not their best work, there is some rEdiculous guitar riffs in the songs. I can't fathom being able to do some leads/solos on that album.

Elements is my favorite by them. It's so different and interesting. I can't keep my ears away from it. Recently though, I've been getting into their other material and I like it in a different kind of way. A more "shit this is really good death metal" kind of way.

For me,
Atheist > Cynic
I understand Cynic love but I can't call it death metal. It's good music and I love the new album but I don't listen to it or Focus in the way I listen to Death Metal: sweet riffs, good vocal patterns, awesome rhythm section. No. I listen to it like it's pop. Good melodies and chord progressions.

Bumping because both bands have released new material since this thread was made.
I'm listening to Atheist's new album "Jupiter" and I must say, some parts absolutely slay. But most of the album lacks soul and falls flat. I respect how they stuck true to their sound, though.
As for Cynic, they're evolving their sound. Some may hate it, others love it. Personally I think Paul is losing his metal compositional skills, albeit the music is still very much original in some regards. His artistic endeavor has taken a new twist, but a cloudy one at that.

I can't decide which I like better when it comes to new Atheist and new Cynic. Both fall a little flat compared to their early material.

Yea I enjoy both new albums as well. I think the new cynic is a little better than the new atheist even though it gets pretty far off base at points. Overall, I gotta give it to atheist for just having a larger discography to pull from. Pound for pound, focus is probably the best album in the bunch but when you pile the first three atheist discs up, that is something serious. Both very influetial bands to me for sure.

they were both close in my book UNTIL Traced in Air.. i know it's heresy, but i like that record better than anything either band has ever done.. and yeah, i realize how different it is, but it's still a fucking masterpiece.

i'm gonna troll all of you and say sleep terror is greater than both cynic and atheist.

Rush ripoff metal.

I have to admit, as much as I love king of those who know, I cringe everytime paul says the supergay line "I've taken off my clothes" ahh god. That song is so dynamic and well written I let it slide but I don't know if I would tolerate that from a band that wasn't so legendary already.

Bump for relevance.

UNQUESTIONABLE PRESENCE smashes 23 years of Cynic music in 32:25 minutes time.