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Album: Slaughter of the Soul
Artist: At The Gates
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Initial Release: 1995 (re-released 2002)
Label: Earache Records
1. Blinded by Fear (Björler & Björler)
2. Slaughter of the Soul (Björler & Björler)
3. Cold (Björler & Björler)
4. Under a Serpent Sun (Björler & Björler)
5. Into the Dead Sky (J. Björler)
6. Suicide Nation (Björler & Björler)
7. World of Lies (Larsson, Björler & Björler)
8. Unto Others (Björler & Björler)
9. Nausea (Björler & Björler)
10. Need (Björler & Björler)
11. The Flames of the End (A Björler)
Vocals: Thomas Lindberg
Guitars: Anders Björler, Martin Larsson
Bass: Jonas Björler
Drums: Adrian Elandsson
Death metal can lay claim to being possibly the most misunderstood musical genre of all time; its handle has become a derogatory phrase which has fallen into common use among the teen population when describing almost any genre whose fanbase consists of corpse-painted, angst-ridden pity cases, and whose repertoire includes distorted guitars and a dark image. It is also generally portrayed as a genre comprised of mindless, talentless outcasts. With this in mind, it is easy to understand the usual confusion and/or sarcasm which greet the phrase "melodic death metal".
It is, however, one of rock's fastest growing subgenres. Grown out of Scandinavia, and more specifically, Gothenburg, its primary influences are the death metal groups stereotyped above; so yes, it's fast. The singing is unpalatable, the drumming is not sparingly applied, and the lyrics are, broadly speaking, crap. Slayer are obvious influences, along with some punk bands and a slew of death metal bands I won't mention due to their relative obscurity.
This album is the second genre-defying album released by the band; it was voted album of the year in Swedish magazine "Close Up", and nominated for a Swedish Grammy. The opening track was one of the most requested songs on MTV2's headbanger's ball, and was nominated for "Best Headbanger's Ball Video" at the 1996 Kerrang Awards. Quite simply, it was the combination of the brutality I have already described, with some of the most melodic guitar riffage ever committed to tape which make this album one of the most influential albums in the last decade. The guitars possess a thick, bassy quality which the band receive volumes of questions about to this day (quite a problem when it was played through a home-made amp), and whilst the drumming a vocals are good, it must be kept in mind that this is a band which as all about the guitars.
Lindberg's singing is quite apart from the grunting vocals which typify death metal and apart again from the stock black metal scream, they occupy the middle ground distorted, croaking, harsh lyrics are spat from the singer's mouth. Elandsson's drumming isn't particularly remarkable, but it typifies good, solid metal drumming; not omnipresent, with enough variation to keep the music sounding fresh. It is, however, the strings which make this band. Every riff is urgent, electrifying in its delivery, and expertly crafted. One of the reasons this remains such an important album is the sheer proliferation of bands who have based their style upon this very album (along with it?s predecessor, "Terminal Spirit Disease"). Often likened to Entombed, although actually sharing far more in common with latter-day Carcass, At The Gates had a magic about them which no band of a similar style has yet managed though there are a million other bands copying their riffing style, the Bjorler brothers songwriting skills have not yet been rivalled.
A key factor of the success of At The Gates is the sheer accessibility of what is undeniably heavy music. Never before have I listened to a band and upon first play of a track been so blown away; and for any band that has come close, never before have I been so blown away by a band and then not disappointed by the rest of their work. This album sounded like nothing else; the breaks were perfect. The album was neatly broken up by an acoustic track and sublimely ended with "In The Flames Of The End", the first and last At The Gates track to include keyboards. The songs are all about three minutes long, and well structured, so each song leaves you gasping for more without being over before the riffs had a chance to emblazon themselves on your subconscious. Surprisingly, the album was best summed up by Kerrang; "At The Gates hammer home the point that brutality can be melodic".
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