Killswitch Engage? Trivium? Shadows Fall? Child's play, boy. These bands simply wouldn't exist without the influence of Gothenburg deathmeisters At The Gates, who, after releasing melo-death classic 'Slaughter Of The Soul' in 1995 and disbanding a year later, have inspired countless musicians and infuriated a bucketload of fans. Two reunions have passed and now, 19 years after changing the extreme metal landscape as we know it, At The Gates have returned with new music.
Muscling in alongside comeback records from Gorguts, Carcass and Norwegian legends Mysticum, 'At War With Reality' could be brushed off as a flash in the pan. But, one minute through its spoken-word intro, El Altar Del Dios Desconocido, it becomes abundantly clear what's about to go down. Nobody does it quite like At The Gates.
With enough force to disembowel Dwayne Johnson using nothing but a woolly mitten, Death And The Labyrinth bullishly arrives accompanied by the same pace and groove that powered Blinded By Fear.
Adrian Erlandsson's recent escapades with moody Yorkshire mob Paradise Lost have done nothing to stunt his drumming and the man tears his way through the track, adding ballast to a flurry of riffs before slowing right down for a crunching, incomprehensibly heavy break.
And therein lies the beauty of At The Gates: they're masters of pace. For every Death And The Labyrinth there's a Heroes And Tombs, where sublime flurries of kick drum provide the spine for the inimitable Tomas Lindberg’s chilling vocal delivery on a mid-paced epic. Those expecting 'Slaughter Of The Soul: The Second' are going to leave very disappointed.
But, for those with an inch of background knowledge regarding At The Gates, 'At War With Reality' is everything you could have hoped for. The band remain overlords of twin-harmony guitar melodies and The Circular Ruins, Order From Chaos and Upon Pillars Of Dust boast oodles of the things. There's an all-encompassing, ethereal quality to 'At War With Reality' and, while it’s not the band's heaviest release, it serves as their most poignant and forward-thinking.
Flourishes of disturbingly tranquil acoustic guitar haunt the opening of Order From Chaos, where pre-'Slaughter Of The Soul' tracks The Swarm, Windows and Raped By The Light Of Christ spring to mind. It's not so much At The Gates delving into the past, more the sound of returning kings tinkering with and revitalising the dynamics of former glories.
Lindberg’s lyrics, meanwhile, allude to various nooks and crannies in the literary landscape. The Book Of Sand (The Abomination) and Circular Ruins are both throwbacks to south American literature from the ‘50s and ‘60s and point towards an overarching concept that questions the truth of reality itself. Here, his output is one of refreshing intelligence and intrigue.
This album deserves to be remembered as a landmark. It is the culmination of nearly two decades of 'Will they? Won't they?' speculation, a riposte to a generation of imitators and a reminder that 'Slaughter Of The Soul' is one of the best metal albums ever scorched onto tape.
At The Gates have taken that level of expectation on their collective chin and done what nobody expected them to do: compose a worthy successor to 'Slaughter Of The Soul' that stands on its own two feet both musically and lyrically. A masterpiece in every sense of the word.
At The Gates Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu December 04 2014 - LONDON THE FORUM
Fri December 05 2014 - MANCHESTER Manchester Academy 2
Sat December 06 2014 - GLASGOW Glasgow Garage
Sun December 07 2014 - BIRMINGHAM Oobleck
Mon December 08 2014 - CARDIFF The Globe
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