At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal.^[3] 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.^[4] After reuniting for a one-off tour in 2008, the band reformed once again in 2021, 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).

Early career (1990–1994)

At the Gates were formed in 1990 by former members of the death and black metal band Grotesque. They recorded a debut EP, Gardens of Grief, for the Dolores record label. The EP led seminal metal label Peaceville Records to sign the band, and they released their debut full-length album, The Red in the Sky Is Ours in 1992.

After the recording of their second studio album, With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness, founding member and guitarist Alf Svensson left the band in 1993 to pursue tattoo artistry, graphic novel illustration and his solo electronic-opera-black metal project, Oxiplegatz. He was soon replaced by former House of Usher guitarist Martin Larsson, who the band knew from underground tape trading. The band continued touring Europe, and were filmed for a Headbangers Ball special feature in Nottingham, UK 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.^[5]

The band continued touring and in 1995 released their most commercially and critically successful album: Slaughter of the Soul, on Earache Records. The album is regarded as their strongest death metal effort, compared to previous albums.^[6] This album firmly rooted the band as one of the leaders of the Swedish metal scene, the “Gothenburg sound” of melodic death metal.^[7] 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 America, but despite this international success, the Björler brothers departed in 1996. The remaining members decided it would be impossible to continue without them, so the band broke up.^[8]

Post-breakup (1996–2007)

When At the Gates broke up in 1996, drummer Adrian Erlandsson, bassist Jonas Björler, and guitarist Anders Björler formed The Haunted. Tomas Lindberg went on working with different bands including Skitsystem, The Crown, Lock Up, and Nightrage. Erlandsson left in 1999 to join Cradle of Filth. In 2001, Peaceville Records released an At the Gates retrospective called Suicidal Final Art.

Reunion (2007–2008)

On 18 October 2007, At the Gates announced several reunion shows for mid-2008, including Getafe Electric Festival, Roskilde Festival, Ruisrock, Wacken Open Air, Graspop Metal Meeting, Sweden Rock Festival, Gods of Metal, Hellfest Summer Open Air and Bloodstock Open Air,^[9] as well as a tour of Japan with The Dillinger Escape Plan, Into Eternity, Pig Destroyer, and Mayhem in May 2008.^[10] Throughout July 2008, they toured the US and Canada on what was dubbed the “Suicidal Final Tour”,^[11] and played their final UK show at Bloodstock Open Air on Sunday on 17 August 2008. They finished their last show in Athens, Greece, with guest The Ocean on 21 September 2008. The band’s performance at Wacken Open Air in 2008 is available on The Flames of the End DVD boxed set, which also includes clips of songs from other venues and a documentary that covers the history of the band in its entirety.

At War with Reality (2014–2016)

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.^[12]

When asked whether At War with Reality is At the Gates’ final album or if the band will 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.”^[13] In numerous recent interviews members of the band have 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, in an official statement released by the band, they announced that Anders Björler had departed from the band. Despite Anders’ departure, they went on to confirm that they are now working on a follow-up studio album to 2014’s At War with Reality, which they are aiming to record and release in 2018.^[14] In September 2017, Jonas Stålhammar was announced as the new guitarist to take the place of Björler on a permanent basis, but he had 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.^[15]

Discography:

Gardens of Grief	Demo	1991
The Red in the Sky Is Ours	Full-length	1992
With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness	Full-length	1993
Gardens of Grief	Single	1994
Terminal Spirit Disease	Full-length	1994
The Carnival Bizarre / Slaughter of the Soul	Split	1995
Slaughter of the Soul	Full-length	1995
Carpet / Gardens of Grief	Split	1996
Cursed to Tour	Split	1996
Gardens of Grief / In the Embrace of Evil	Split	2001
Suicidal Final Art	Compilation	2001
Maximum Metal	Split video	2006
The Flames of the End	Video	2010
Purgatory Unleashed – Live at Wacken	Live album	2010
Ultimate Collector’s Box Set	Boxed set	2010
Live in Krakow	Live album	2010
At the Gates / Decapitated	Split	2014
At War with Reality	Single	2014
Death and the Labyrinth	Single	2014
At War with Reality	Full-length	2014
We Are Connected / Language of the Dead	Split	2015
To Drink from the Night Itself	Single	2018
Raped by the Light of Christ (2018)	Single	2018
A Stare Bound in Stone	Single	2018
Daggers of Black Haze	Single	2018
To Drink from the Night Itself	Full-length	2018
The Mirror Black	EP	2019
With the Pantheons Blind	EP	2019
Spectre of Extinction	Single	2021
The Paradox	Single	2021
The Fall into Time	Single	2021
The Nightmare of Being	Full-length	2021

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Past Members:

Björn Mankner	Bass (1990)
See also: ex-Infestation, ex-Braindead
Anders Björler	Guitars (1990-1996, 2007-2008, 2010-2017)
See also: ex-Infestation, ex-Terror, Anders Björler, ex-Akani, ex-Pagandom, ex-The Haunted, ex-Liers in Wait
Alf Svensson	Guitars (1990-1993)
See also: ex-Oral, ex-Oxiplegatz, ex-Diabolique, ex-Grotesque, ex-Liers in Wait, ex-Binnike Bengt & Roy Rövmuns Orkester
Cliff Lundberg	Bass (1992)
See also: ex-Black Uniforms, Driller Killer, Perukers, ex-Anti-Cimex, ex-Moderat Likvidation