After 17 years, the wait is finally over... ATHEIST are set to enter LedBelly recording studios in Atlanta, GA on July 5th to lay the tracks down on their long-awaited, yet untitled, fourth studio album! Engineering the recording session will be Matt Washburn. Additionally, the band have secured the services of one of metal's most significant talents of the past decade, Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, CHIMAIRA, DEVILDRIVER and many others), to handle the mixing of what promises to be a modern classic from the pioneers of technical metal.

"I can't believe we are about to record this album finally" vocalist Kelly Shaefer states. "We have been working our asses off for a year, and have taken great strides to make this the record we, as fans, would want to hear from Atheist. It's ferocious, intelligent, and dead balls heavy as shit! When people hear this they're going to say, 'It's Atheist!'

We are also honored and totally stoked to have Jason be a part of this album with us" says drummer Steve Flynn. "He went to great lengths to make this happen for us, and we are grateful. We anticipate collectively taking extreme metal to new places. Jason has quickly become one of the most sought-after engineers/producers in the industry, and we're excited to be working with him. He truly understands the legacy of the Florida death metal scene, and the importance of this record. We're confident that Jason will deliver an absolutely monster production. Additionally, we DO realize that the record has taken a long time to create. However, there are so many twists and turns in the average Atheist song, and we felt like it was very important to have enough killer material written so as to make it the most interesting record we have ever created. We wanted to make sure we took the next logical step in the evolution of our music. According to the critics out there, it's a tall - almost impossible - order. However, we feel like we have done it.

Our late and great friend and foundational element of the Atheist sound, Roger Patterson, was always with us in spirit in the process of writing" adds Shaefer. "In fact, that frantic, technical Patterson spirit has come shining through once more in the form of Jonathan Thompson, our newest guitar player. 'JT' is a young-spirited multi-talented player - he also plays bass for Flynn's band Gnostic. As long-time Atheist fans, JT and Chris Baker understand what Atheist is at its core and what the fans expect. Both have proven to be invaluable in bringing out that classic Atheist sound and have been instrumental the course of writing this long-awaited record.

On a related note, the band states: "We do wish to sincerely apologize to the promoters, fans, and DEW SCENTED for the cancelation of our appearance at this year's Hellfest, and a handful of club dates surrounding it. We had to do it in order to get this album recorded. As soon as it's done we will come see you all on tour for the next 18 months! We owe the continuing legacy and re-ignition of Atheist to everyone who has ever demanded more from their metal, and a huge salute goes out from Atheist to all of the bands that carry the flag that we unceremoniously planted 22 years ago with Piece Of Time. Thank you all for making it possible for us to make the most important piece of art we have individually and collectively ever made."

Atheist's forthcoming album is tentatively scheduled for a late 2010 release and will be followed by a world tour in 2011 and on.