At The Gates

Originating as a trailblazing Swedish death metal outfit, At the Gates drew on heavy thrash riffs and melodic power to help define the Gothenburg sound. The band delivered four influential 1990s albums, among them the recognized standouts Terminal Spirit Disease and Slaughter of the Soul, before disbanding in 1996. Reformation followed in the 2010s, bringing a Swedish Grammy for the praised 2014 return album At War with Reality and sustained leadership in melodic death metal through later releases such as To Drink from the Night Itself in 2018 and The Nightmare of Being in 2021.

The original roster—Tomas Lindberg on vocals, Anders Bjorler on guitars, Adrian Erlandsson on drums, Jonas Bjorler on bass, and Alf Svensson on guitars—assembled in late 1990 and recorded the Gardens of Grief EP for Dolores. Extensive Swedish touring with loud contemporaries Bolt Thrower and Dismember preceded a Peaceville Records contract that yielded The Red in the Sky Is Ours. In 1993 Svensson departed for Martin Larsson on guitar, With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness appeared, and U.K. dates were shared with Anathema and Cradle of Filth.

The 1994 Terminal Spirit Disease album strengthened their critical profile by showcasing a novel death-metal approach, which prompted Earache to issue Slaughter of the Soul and its more fully realized melodic style. Fresh honors included a Swedish Grammy nomination, frequent MTV Headbanger’s Ball rotation, and two triumphant U.S. tours with Morbid Angel and Napalm Death, yet the group soon fractured, the Bjorler twins and Erlandsson forming the Haunted while Lindberg started Hide.

Reunion shows began in 2007 and continued sporadically, though new recordings remained off the table until a 2014 announcement, nineteen years after the prior album, confirmed fresh studio work. Century Media released the magic-realism-inspired concept album At War with Reality that October, matching the strength of earlier efforts. After lengthy touring, Anders Björler exited in 2017; Jonas Stålhammar of Crippled Black Phoenix and the Lurking Fear joined as permanent guitarist. The band tracked its sixth album at Parlour Recording Studios in London with producer Russ Russell, whose prior clients include Napalm Death, the Haunted, and Dimmu Borgir, finishing the sessions by year’s end. To Drink from the Night Itself surfaced in January 2018 alongside its title-track single and video, arriving in May just before summer touring. The seventh album, The Nightmare of Being, followed in 2021 and featured bolder explorations that extended the group’s recent prog and Krautrock tendencies.