Atem was formed in the winter 1995 in Kemi, a little town in northern Finland. The founding members were Olli Heikkinen and Pentti Penttilä. Line-up at the time was: Olli Heikkinen - guitar, Antti Kalasniemi - vocals, Pentti Penttilä - drums, Ilkka Kuusisto - Bass and Petri Lackman - guitar.

In the beginning the name was different but after Petri moved away in 1999 the name was changed to what it is today. In the year 2000 Mikael Laukkanen joined the band filling the gap of the second guitar. Three years later Mikael was forced to left the band for the same reasons as Petri before him. In summer 2004 Petri visited the band line-up during the recording of the "Pedon laulu". Six months later Henri Mäki-Jokela stepped into the guitarists shoes. In winter 2008 the line-up changed once again. Ilkka resigned wanting to spend more time with his family. The replacement was found rather quick. Eetu Heikkinen was easy choise for already covering up some playing jobs at earlier gigs.

Back in the days Olli composed most of the material but now everyone is involved. The songs are arranged together aswell and the very essence of the style comes from every player's own influences. Atem has never categorized their music too specifically, so the "alternative death metal" is the best region to work with. The lyrics are made mostly by Olli.

Atem has recorded eight demo/promo-tapes, one album (on which only three songs were published), participated in two compilation CDs and filmed a music video.