At the Gates
At the Gates at Wacken Open Air 2022
At the Gates at Wacken Open Air 2022
Background information
OriginGothenburg, Sweden
Genres
Years active
  • 1990–1996
  • 2007–2008
  • 2010–present
Labels
Members
Past members
Websitewww.atthegates.se

At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the Gates released four albums, ending with and including Slaughter of the Soul (1995), which has been seen as a landmark in the mid-1990s Swedish death metal scene.[2] After reuniting for a one-off tour in 2008, the band reformed once again in 2011, and they have since released three more albums: At War with Reality (2014), To Drink from the Night Itself (2018) and The Nightmare of Being (2021).

History

Early career (1990–1994)

At the Gates were formed in late 1990 by former members of the death and black metal band Grotesque. They recorded a debut EP, Gardens of Grief, for the Dolores record label.[3] The EP led the label Peaceville Records to sign the band, and they released their debut album, The Red in the Sky Is Ours in 1992.[3]

After the recording of their second studio album, With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness, founding member and guitarist Alf Svensson left the band in 1993,[3] to pursue tattoo artistry, graphic novel illustration and his solo electronic-opera-black metal project, Oxiplegatz. He was soon replaced by former House of Usher guitarist Martin Larsson,[3] who the band knew from underground tape trading. The band continued touring Europe, and were filmed for a Headbangers Ball special feature in Nottingham, England in July 1993.

Success and breakthrough (1994–1996)

In 1994, At the Gates released their third album, Terminal Spirit Disease, which was hailed as a breakthrough album.[4]

The band continued touring and in 1995 released their most commercially and critically successful album: Slaughter of the Soul, on Earache Records.[3] The album is regarded as their strongest death metal effort, compared to previous albums.[5] This album firmly rooted the band as one of the leaders of the Swedish metal scene, the "Gothenburg sound" of melodic death metal.[6] The band received international attention for the album, gaining them several U.S. tours and heavy rotation of the music video for "Blinded by Fear" on MTV in the United States, but despite this international success, the Björler brothers departed in 1996.[3] The remaining members decided it would be impossible to continue without them, so the band broke up.[7]

Post-breakup (1996–2007)

When At the Gates broke up in 1996, drummer Adrian Erlandsson, bassist Jonas Björler, and guitarist Anders Björler formed The Haunted.[3] Tomas Lindberg went on working with different bands including Skitsystem, The Crown, Lock Up, and Nightrage. Erlandsson left in 1999 to join Cradle of Filth. In 2001, Peaceville Records released an At the Gates retrospective called Suicidal Final Art.

Reunion (2007–2008)

At the Gates performing live at Metaltown Festival in June 2011

On 18 October 2007, At the Gates announced several reunion shows for mid-2008, including Getafe Electric Festival, Roskilde Festival, Ruisrock, Wacken Open Air, Graspop Metal Meeting, Sweden Rock Festival, Gods of Metal, Hellfest Summer Open Air and Bloodstock Open Air,[8] as well as a tour of Japan with The Dillinger Escape Plan, Into Eternity, Pig Destroyer, and Mayhem in May 2008.[9] Throughout July 2008, they toured the US and Canada on what was dubbed the "Suicidal Final Tour",[10] and played their final UK show at Bloodstock Open Air on Sunday on 17 August 2008. They finished their last show in Athens, Greece, with guest The Ocean on 21 September 2008. The band's performance at Wacken Open Air in 2008 is available on The Flames of the End DVD boxed set, which also includes clips of songs from other venues and a documentary that covers the history of the band in its entirety.

At War with Reality (2014–2016)

At the Gates live at Summer Breeze Open Air in 2016

On 21 January 2014, At the Gates released a video on YouTube showing a distorted video with lines of text on it, followed by text saying "2014", possibly hinting toward possible lyrics for an upcoming album. On 27 January, the band revealed on Facebook via a new cover photo and profile picture, that their confirmed fifth record would be titled At War with Reality and would be released in the fall of 2014 through Century Media.[11]

When asked whether At War with Reality is At the Gates' final album or if the band will continue recording, Tomas Lindberg replied, "We can't say really. We have no plans of stopping but we've broken promises before so it's best not to say anything."[12] In numerous recent interviews members of the band have expressed interest in doing a follow-up album. At the Gates concluded the touring cycle for At War with Reality in August 2016 with a festival appearance at Elb Riot in Hamburg, Germany.

To Drink from the Night Itself and The Nightmare of Being (2017–present)

On 8 March 2017, in an official statement released by the band, they announced that Anders Björler had departed from the band. Despite Anders' departure, they went on to confirm that they were working on a follow-up to 2014's At War with Reality, which they were aiming to record and release in 2018.[13] In September 2017, Jonas Stålhammar was announced as the new guitarist to take the place of Björler on a permanent basis, but he had joined too late to be involved in the writing process of the new album. They entered the studio to begin recording the album in November 2017, titled To Drink from the Night Itself, which was released through Century Media Records on 18 May 2018.

At the Gates released their seventh studio album, The Nightmare of Being, on 2 July 2021.[14] While the album remains rooted in the Gothenburg metal tradition, it also features a wider range of musical styles, influences, and instrumentation. The ideas in the album are influenced by the writings of horror philosophers such as Thomas Ligotti and Eugene Thacker.[15]

On 23 July 2022, At the Gates announced the departure of Stålhammar.[16] On 5 October, the band announced that original guitarist Anders Björler had rejoined the band.[17] They are now working on their 8th studio album following the return of Björler.

Musical style and legacy

At the Gates' musical style has been described as melodic death metal[18][2] and death metal.[19] The band's early work presented a "progressive, complex way of crafting songs of dextrous[sic] melodic fluidity and variation", which would influence technical death metal, but also the black metal of Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger, for instance.[20] Most of this material was composed by Alf Svensson, who, according to guitarist Anders Björler, fused the Swedish melancholy of Nordic folk music with death metal and classical music.[21]

The style of later At the Gates "would inspire the whole Gothenburg region",[22] but as Svensson had left the band, the commercial breakthrough Slaughter of the Soul was composed of more traditional song structures:[23] "[...] a stripped-down, no-frills melodic death album that hit all the basic points of the style".[5]

Awards

At the Gates were nominated for a Swedish Grammy (Grammis) for Slaughter of the Soul in 1996, but didn't win.[24] They won the Swedish Grammy (Grammis) in February 2015 for the 2014 comeback album At War with Reality.[25] The band were also awarded the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Inspiration Award in June 2015.[26]

Band members

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

References

  1. ↑ "Century Media Records - At The Gates: : Announce new studio album; Sign worldwide deal with Century Media Records!". Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Melodic Death Metal". About.com. 2 October 2011. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Colin Larkin, ed. (1999). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 36. ISBN 0-7535-0257-7.
  4. ↑ Morgan, Anthony (November 2007). ""The Flames of the End"? - Guitarist Anders Björler wishes to pen the final chapter in the glorious history of Swedish legends At The Gates". Lucem Fero. Archived from the original on 6 February 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  5. 1 2 Steve Huey: Slaughter of the Soul - At the Gates, accessed on 18 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "At the Gates | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "At The Gates" Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Earache.com.
  8. ↑ "It's Official: At The Gates To Reunite For Select Shows". Roadrunnerrecords.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2011. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  9. ↑ "Extreme The Dojo". Extreme The Dojo. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  10. ↑ "Decibel Magazine". Decibelmagazine.com. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "At The Gates Announces New Studio Album, Label Home". Blabbermouth.net. 27 January 2014. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Interview With At The Gates Vocalist Tomas Lindberg". Metalunderground.com. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  13. ↑ "AT THE GATES Statement - March 8, 2017". Facebook. 8 March 2017. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  14. ↑ "AT THE GATES Announces New Album 'The Nightmare Of Being'". Blabbermouth.net. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  15. ↑ "At the Gates: The Nightmare Of Being". Pitchfork.com. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  16. ↑ Kennelty, Greg (23 July 2022). "AT THE GATES Splits With Guitarist JONAS STÅLHAMMAR". Metal Injection. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  17. ↑ "AT THE GATES Announces Return Of Founding Guitarist ANDERS BJÖRLER". Blabbermouth.net. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  18. ↑ Ekeroth, Daniel (1 January 2008). Swedish Death Metal. Bazillion Points Books. p. 222. ISBN 9780979616310.
  19. ↑ Robert Müller: Satanische Verse. In: Metal Hammer, no. 6, June 1993, p. 159.
  20. ↑ "At the Gates - Death Metal [Death Metal Underground: Black Metal, Death Metal, Grindcore, Speed/Power Metal, Thrash and Doom Metal reviews, discographies, mp3 samples, tracklists and images]". deathmetal.org. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  21. ↑ Ekeroth, Daniel (2008). Swedish death metal. Brooklyn, NY: Bazillion Points Books. pp. 201f. ISBN 978-0-9796163-1-0. OCLC 256029895.
  22. ↑ Daniel Ekeroth: Swedish Death Metal. Second printing. Brooklyn, NY: Bazillion Points 2009, p. 222, accessed on 18 September 2013.
  23. ↑ Ekeroth, Daniel (2008). Swedish death metal. Brooklyn, NY: Bazillion Points Books. p. 270. ISBN 978-0-9796163-1-0. OCLC 256029895.
  24. ↑ "Grammis". Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  25. ↑ "Nominerade Amason, Smith & Thell och Benjamin Ingrosso gör exklusiva liveframträdanden på Grammis". Grammisgalan. 23 January 2020.
  26. ↑ "2015 Metal Hammer 'Golden Gods Awards' Winners Revealed". Theprp.com. 15 June 2015.
  27. ↑ The History Of At The Gates – Under A Serpent Sun (English Subs). 9 July 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2015 – via YouTube.
  28. ↑ Metal Archives: Encyclopaedia Metallum, retrieved 27 September 2020
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