2B - Thursday, December 4, 2008
Today12.4.08
Adam Zagajewski Poetry Reading
5 p.m.
At Rackham Amphitheater
Free
"Pride and Prejudice" Presented by
the U-M Department of Theatre and
Drama
7:30 p.m.
At the Arthur Miller Theatre, Walgreen Drama Center
$18 & $24; $9 with student ID
Tomorrow 12.5.08
"Dance and Related Arts Concert"
Presented by the U-M Dance Depart-
ment
8 p.m.
At the Betty Pease Studio in the U-M Dance Building
$5
"Never a Dull Moment! Curating at
the Historic Henry Ford Estate": Talk
by Henry Ford Estate Curator Susan
McCabe
Noon
At 7603 Haven Hall
Free
"Ruddigore: or, The Witch's Curse"
Presented by the U-M Gilbert and
Sulivan Society
8 p.m.
At Lydia Mendelssohn Theater
$18 & $22; $10 & $14 with student ID
Saturday 12.6.08
Holiday Sale hosted by the Ann
Arbor Potters Guild
10 a.m.-5 p.m.
At 201 Hill Street
Free
"Himalayan Bazaar in My Garage":
Sale of Nepali gift items gathered by
tour owner Heather O'Neal
10 a.m. - 4p.m.
120 Eighth Street
Free
Sunday 12.7.08
Michigan Marching Band Annual
Crisler Concert
12:30 p.m.
At CrislerArena
$10
Congolese Dance Presentation
2 p.m.
At U-M Dance Building Studio A
Free
Please send all press releases and event
information to arts@michigandaily.com.

The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

Ii

ATHEIST 'UNQUESTIONABLE
PRESENCE' (1991)

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Any self-respecting woman ever dates
NHL player Sean Avery again.
34:1
Title of Britney Spears' next album:
Nuthouse.
40:1
Bill Ford declares Detroit Lions in a
recession.
78:1
Robert Pattinson reveals himself to be
real vampire, attacking and biting seven
teenage friends.
300:1
U2 files multi-million dollar lawsuit
against Zima.
5,000:1
Terrell Owens out for the rest of season
after accidentally shooting himself in the
ass with a crossbow.
800:1

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Not just noise
By JACK PORTER becomes illegal."
Daily Arts Writer If "Mother Man" is in some ways
a condensed version of the album,
al, as a genre, is plagued by then "Enthralled in Essence" is the
or otherwise reactionary idi- best expression of the album's ideas.
king to shock and disgust the The opening fanfare is a trium-
l public. It's no surprise that a phant burst of tremolo twitters that
ortion of the resulting music, erupts like a geyser. Seconds later,
sounds like senseless angry the track is thrust into a lock-step
Lyrics about decapitation and gothic grind where Shaefer pleas:
forms of unwanted surgery "Relieve me of my duty / As keeper
elp the image either, The pro- of this body / Just leave me with
ve death metal sub-genre tries my mind." In a moment of musical
rid these pitfalls, but rarely wit, the palm-muted chug slows to
ds. a halt, only to be punctuated by a
Atheist's Unquestionable crystal clear harmonic chord. After
ce is one such exception to the another blazing riff cycle, the band
ven the album cover suggests breaks into a bouncy swing cadence.
hing other than the usual Virtuosic guitar solos squeal and.
and guts affair: It shows aboy squawk, guiding the song to its con-
g underneath a star-lit sky. clusion.
ida was the birthplace of the Progressive outfits often have
can death metal scene in the problems creating distinctive songs
home to prominent bands - 'their compositions change the
theist, Death, Cynic, Morbid rules of the game so manytimes that
Cannibal Corpse and Obitu- they lose a thematic center. But each
eath may have been the most cut on Unquestionable Presence has
ntial group, but Atheist's a stylistic element or sonic gestalt

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Unquestionable Presence was the
most challenging and accomplished
album of the era. Unfortunately,
the band. was forced to cope with a
moment of real death while making
the record - bassist Roger Patter-
son died in a road accident. Despite
reservations, recording continued
with session bassist Tony Choy, and
the LP was released as a tribute to
Patterson. Unquestionable Presence
is defined just as much by its sear-
ing emotional intensity as its musi-
cal daring.
"Mother Man" opens the album
with the bass guitar in the spotlight.
Choy lays down the verse's groove
with an athletic slap-and-pop riff
that contracts and dilates within the
span of a single measure. Flaming
tongues of guitar fury lash out from
the track's gurgling bass founda-
tion. Always in flux, the track visits
both tracts of scorched-earth metal
and placid jazz-fusion oases. Even
those lookingto decipher leadvocal-
ist Kelly Shaefer's sinister snarls
will be pleasantly surprised - he's
decrying the rape of Mother Earth
by the arrogant "Mother Man" who
envisions a world where "nature

A deeper kind of
death metal.
that unifies their divergent paths.
The title track has amore tradition-
al bottom-end galloping foundation.
"Retribution," on the other hand, is
defined by a jazzy expansiveness.
On the darker side, closer "And The
Psychic Saw" churns out anxious,
halting chromatic riffs.
With its seminal album, Athe-
ist proved that heavy music can
be intelligent, surprising and even
soulful. Jazz sensibilities allowed
for songs that were spontaneous in
appearanceyetcerebral in construc-
tion. But most importantly, the band
found a way to express a diverse
range of emotions through its music
while staying totally metal. And
because of transformative albums
like this, the "metal" ideal can stand
for something more interesting than
the thrills of drug abuse, devil wor-
ship and mosh-pits.


6

DECIDE WHAT
GOES WHERE.

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Michigan Daily Advertising is hiring
a Production Layout Designer.
Begin winter semester and work two hours every weekday.
Applicants should have a knack for spacial relationships
and a distinct attention to detail. Experience with Adobe
InDesign is a plus.
Email bce@umich.edu
(1 ic Nidiigan: Bal

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