Every band or artist who releases a masterpiece never goes into the studio knowing that all their hard work is about to change the face of music forever. At the Gates, a band of young metal fans from Gothenburg, did just that with Slaughter of the Soul in 1995. They, along with other bands like In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and the album Heartwork by Carcass, propelled the genre of melodic death metal into the limelight. At the Gates did things differently however. Unlike the other bands mentioned, who all in one way or another changed their sound, (In Flames did a 180 after the release of Reroute to Remain and have become a shadow of their former selves. DT focused more on aggression and less clean vocals as seen on the excellent Fiction. Then, shifted to a more atmospheric based sound with albums like Atoma. Carcass flopped with Swan Song in 1996, eventually regaining steam 17 years later with Surgical Steel), At the Gates evolved with the release of Slaughter of the Soul and continue to put out some of the best melodic death metal today. This album is the blueprint for making excellent melodic death metal and aided in influencing the huge wave of metalcore bands in the early 2000s. It provided extreme metal with a revitalizing shot of adrenaline during a time when metal was becoming stagnant. Laden with groove and excellent musicianship, it is an album that is an absolute must-listen; one that will be listened to and talked about for generations.
At the Gates did not begin their career with the sound present on Slaughter. Formed in 1990 in Gothenburg, Sweden, a city that became the moniker of the genre they would soon perfect. After dropping a demo titled "Gardens of Grief" in 1991, the band released The Red in the Sky is Ours the following year. A straight forward, no fuss death metal album. Their sophomore effort, With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness, the band continued down the same path set by their debut. On 1994's Terminal Spirit Disease, At the Gates showed inklings of things to come the following year. The production is noticeably better than their previous efforts. The guitar work from Ander Bjorler and Martin Larsson is punchier and more melodic. Tomas Lindberg's vocals are gruff but actually audible in the mix. The rythmn section, Jonas Bjorler on bass and Adrian Erlandsson on drums, are tight and groovy. "Forever Blind" showcases the band's new sound perfectly. The album does suffer from copycat syndrome in some tracks. The instrumental "And the World Returned" sounds like a thrown out acoustic passage from an early In Flames record. Terminal Spirit Disease is also very short with the six "real" tracks only clocking in around 23 minutes with 3 live tracks placed at the end of the album. With the foundation laid by Terminal, At the Gates entered the studio during the summer of '95 and released Slaughter of the Soul on November 14, 1995 via Earache Records.
The industrial intro of "Blinded by Fear" begins the album. The sound of broken electronics and ripping metal masks the compressed vocals stating "We are blind to the worlds within us. Waiting to be born." The band immediately slam into a fast and pummeling melodic riff. Tomas' vocals are rough yet clear. The lyrics, unlike the typical death metal lyrics of blood and guts, reflect on reality and one's perception of it. The lyrics on the album as a whole take a grim look at reality.
"I cast aside my chains
Fall from reality
Purgatory unleashed
Now burn the face of the earth."
The guitar tone is open and bass heavy. According to producer Fredrik Nordstrom, the band used a old Peavey Bandit head with the infamous Boss MT-2 Metal Zone to create the guitar tone. Martin's drumming is crazy as well. Nordstrom stated in a interview that Martin developed his own technique to bearably to hit the snare and cymbals as quickly as possible. "Blinded by Fear" also features a slower section right before the solo. The rhythm guitar plays simple power chords and the lead is clean, playing arpeggiated chords.
The end of "Blinded" leads right into the title track featuring the famous "Go!" shout right before the main riff kicks in. At the Gates and Nordstrom stated that they added the "Go!" at the last minute and to give the song a more hardcore feel. The guitars are at their best here. The riffs are melodic and show Anders Björler and Martin Larsson's love of creating a groove. The chorus riff backs Lindberg shouting "There won't be another dawn. We will reap as we have sown." A force to be reckoned with, the title track more than likely the one song outside listeners heard from At the Gates. "Cold" continues the uphill climb established by the first two tracks. The lyrics are still desolate with lines like "I feel my soul grow cold. Only the dead are smiling." Andy LaRacque, King Diamond guitarist and friend of Nordstrom, plays a guest solo on this track. "Under a Serpent Sun" is the best showcase of At the Gates' transition in a melodic death metal powerhouse. The intro, triplet riff leads into the verse riff that mimics the melodic grooves seen in the past three tracks. Clean section that pops in near the end the song provides with album with a nice change of pace. However, this respite doesn't last as they launch into a furious section that leads into a repeat of the intro.
"Sweetfleshed, hellbent creature
Artist of the fevered soul
Heavenly, venomous rapture
Stricken numb by fear I fall"
Following the classical guitar laden instrumental track "Into the Dead Sky," the second half of the album features shorter, more thrash orientated songs. Both "Suicide Nation" with it's low B string chugging and across the fretboard riffage and "World of Lies" are groovy through and through with a tinge of thrash thrown in for good measure. "Nausea" and "Unto Others" harken back to the days of quality 80's thrash metal, keeping the groove but flying by at a blistering pace. "Need" caps off the album nicely by combining the styles of both halves of the album. The melody seen in the opening tracks mixes well the faster time signatures of the second half. All of these tracks feature lyrics showing the dystopian outlook the band has on life.
"Utopia - lost in chaos
As the sky turns black
Suicide legacy
There is no turning back"
...
Suicide nation
Mass-appeal, death-addiction
Dead but dreaming
Restrained by phobia, brainwashed into submission
Control, control" (Suicide Nation)
"Genetic barcode hell
Mental genocide
Repulsive human shells
Choke on the fruits of life" (Nausea)
The final track "The Flames of the End" honestly feels out of place on Slaughter. The digital synths sound like a ripped sound file from the Metal Gear Solid OST. Switching "Into a Dead Sky" with this track may have made the album finish on a stronger note.
After touring for the album, At the Gates called it quits for eleven years. During their hiatus, members started or join new bands. Linberg fronted Greek melo death band Nightrage for their albums Sweet Vengeance and Descent into Chaos and sang for grindcore super-group Lock Up's debut Hate Breeds Suffering. Jonas Björler and Adrian Erlandsson formed The Haunted; a groove metal leaning, melodic death band featuring an all star lineup throughout it's history. In 2007, At the Gates reunited for a brief, year long tour. The band made an official come back 2010, released a few live albums, and returned to the scene with their 2014 album At War With Reality. An album that showed that At the Gate hardly missed a beat during their time apart. The great but poorly produced To Drink from the Night Itself dropped four years later. At the Gates have remained active to this day.
Slaughter of the Soul encapsulates the sound of generation. The album is a masterpiece released alongside other highly influential albums in 1995 like Demanufacture, Destroy Erase Improve, and The Gallery. The song writing and lyricism on Slaughter helped revitalize the slowly stagnating metal of the mid-90s and acted as a pivot point for the genre as a whole. Shortly after the release of Slaughter, the metalcore wave rose. Many of the riffs used by bands like Unearth, As I Lay Dying, and Trivium studied the blueprint set by At the Gates. It is a record that was not a flash in the pan and will never fade into obscurity. Slaughter of the Soul is a litmus test of what separates a good album from a masterpiece.
Stream the album here
Banger TV special on the album here
Interview with At the Gates and Nodstrom here
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