At the Gates is a Swedish melodic 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).
After recording 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 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]
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 was At the Gates' final album or if the band would 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 interviews, members of the band 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, an official statement released by the band announced guitarist Anders Björler's departure. Nonetheless, they confirmed 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, permanent guitarist, though he 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 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.
In August 2025, it was revealed on At The Gates’ Facebook and Instagram pages that Lindberg was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (Mouth/pallet cancer) in December 2023. This resulted in him having the roof of his mouth removed, followed by radiation therapy, and ongoing problems with finding some of the cancer remaining. This was revealed as the reason for the band’s continued silence on activity and new album progress. It was additionally claimed that most of the work on the next album is now complete with the vocals among the first completed (prior to Lindberg’s major surgery), and is expected to be released soon.
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] Steve Huey of AllMusic called it "a stripped-down, no-frills melodic death album that hit all the basic points of the style".[5] In 2022, Eli Enis of Revolver wrote: "In many ways, At the Gates are the melodic death-metal band," stating the belief that the band's style had been imitated hundreds, if not thousands of times.[24]
Awards
At the Gates were nominated for a Swedish Grammy (Grammis) for Slaughter of the Soul in 1996, but didn't win.[25] They won the Swedish Grammy (Grammis) in February 2015 for the 2014 comeback album At War with Reality.[26] The band were also awarded the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Inspiration Award in June 2015.[27]
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