Review: At the Gates - At War With Reality
By Eric Perzanowski, Staff Writer
[Century Media; 2014]
Rating: 8.5/10
Key Tracks: “Death and the Labyrinth,” “The Head of the Hydra,” “The Night Eternal”
It’s been nearly 19 years since Swedish death metal band At The Gates released what many believed was the influential act’s swan song, Terminal Spirit Disease. In the time since, the group broke up--with several members going on to form The Haunted--and had a reunion tour, but new material did not appear to be on the horizon.
At War With Reality will undoubtedly draw comparisons to Carcass’ 2013 Surgical Steel; the narratives of the two albums and bands certainly have plenty of parallels: Two highly successful and influential extreme metal bands from the ‘90s return to the scene after being gone for nearly two decades, only to return with an album that put them right back at the top of the game.
It’s hard to see At War With Reality having the same effect as Slaughter of the Soul, an album that’s been ripped off/paid homage to by essentially every melodic death metal band birthed after At The Gates. At War is by all means a great album, but the sound isn’t exactly new or innovative.
However, what it lacks in innovation, it makes up for in its masterful songwriting and in the fact that this band has well-honed the craft of making great melodic death metal.
The riffs on this album are highly memorable. Certainly many of the contemporary bands inspired by At the Gates have gone on to write plenty of catchy riffs, but few necessarily have the ability to stand out, which is likely part of what has given this band near legendary status.
Intro track “El Alter del Dios Desconocido” is entirely a recitation in Spanish that, when translated, is speaking of seven possibilities regarding the existence or nonexistence of God. This sets a general theme for the album regarding reality, existence, God, etc.
Tomas Lindberg displays remarkable vocals on this album. His shrieking howls create a distinct sound and his voice adds a more complex, masterfully structured emotional layer that complements the rest of the band.
“Death and the Labyrinth” is one of the album’s many key points. Although it’s a relatively short track, the song moves at a fast pace and has a memorable main riff and a deceivingly simple yet catchy chorus, “Death and the labyrinth / Swallowed by Earth itself.”
“The Head of the Hydra” also stands out as a very energetic track with a crushing rhythmic pattern during the verses, complementing the main riff.
The grand finale of this album, “The Night Eternal,” builds in intensity over the first half of the song to an epic climax during the song’s middle and slowly resolves over the last half.
Although I never experienced first-hand the influence and success at the pinnacle of At The Gates’ career, At War With Reality gives young-timers like myself an insight into the prowess and skill that this band possesses. While this album likely won’t have the same bearing on the future of extreme metal like Slaughter of the Soul, At War With Reality is more than a worthy return album for this band and will likely go down as one of the most outstanding metal albums of 2014.
