After 19 long years one of the main architects of the Gothenburg sound At The Gates has finally returned with a brand new album “At War With Reality”.
After initially breaking up in 1996 then reuniting in 2008 and touring from then on the band has finally put out their first studio album in 19 years. I cant stress that enough its been 19 years since they last put out an album and they seem to still be completely on top of their game.
As one of the bands to truly define what became know as the Gothenburg sound the band have seemingly perfected the genre of Melodic Death Metal completely with this release. It seems 19 years between albums must be pretty much the perfect time between albums to creatively get everything to fall into place
Thomas Lindbergs vocals are just a good as they always have been, hasn’t slipped at all since the bands original run in the early to mid ninties. Guitarists Anders Bjorler and Martin Larsson work incredibly well together, their interplay together really drives home the melodic tones that the band is known for but still managing to keep the fierceness thats expected from a Swedish death metal band. The drummer is also extremely impressive. Adrian Erlandsson really steps up his game on this album
The lead single from the album, the title track “At War With Reality” is a pretty phenomenal track and it really set the tone for the entire album. Lindberg has stated that there is a lot of surrealist influence on this album and they were attempting to make something a lot darker in tone than their previous work. I think that shines through especially on tracks like “Dead And The Labyrinth”, “Order From Chaos” and “Eater Of Gods”
This album has a very big sound that manages to cover all of what the Gothenburg sound is know for. Its heavy and dark but still very melodic and beautiful at the same time. A near perfect blend of sounds.
All fans of the band will rejoice with this album and feel that it is in fact the second coming and definitely worth the wait. It will also be enough to win over the most skeptical death metal fans. If you weren’t a fan of the Gothenburg melodic death metal scene then give this album a listen and you may just be converted
“At War With Reality” is available October 28
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