At the Gates

At the Gates

At the Gates is a death metal and melodic death metal group from Gothenburg, Sweden. Formed in 1990, it becomes one of the major early bands in the Gothenburg metal scene. The group includes Tomas Lindberg, the Björler brothers Anders and Jonas, drummer Adrian Erlandsson, guitarist Martin Larsson, guitarist Alf Svensson, and Jonas Stålhammar.

Early releases and scene role

The band records its first demo, Gardens of Grief, in 1991 at Studio Sunlight for Dolores Recordings. It is issued on cassette and vinyl and later reissued several times as an EP, with different cover artwork on the reissues. The demo leads to a deal with Peaceville Records.

At the Gates releases its debut album, The Red in the Sky Is Ours, in 1992. After the recording of the second studio album, With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness, founding guitarist Alf Svensson leaves in 1993 to pursue tattoo artistry, comic illustration, and his solo project Oxiplegatz, and Martin Larsson joins as his replacement.

The band’s third album, Terminal Spirit Disease, appears in 1994. It contains six new songs and is treated as a breakthrough release, with the band’s sound showing clear development in both performance and production.

Slaughter of the Soul and first split

In 1995, At the Gates releases Slaughter of the Soul on Earache Records. It becomes the band’s best-known and most commercially and critically successful album, and is widely regarded as a benchmark release in the Gothenburg sound. The album brings international attention, including a U.S. tour and heavy rotation for the video for “Blinded by Fear” on MTV in the United States.

After the Björler brothers leave in 1996, the remaining members decide the band cannot continue without them and At the Gates disbands. Following the split, Adrian Erlandsson, Jonas Björler and Anders Björler form The Haunted.

Reunion activity and later work

Peaceville Records releases the retrospective Suicidal Final Art in 2001. At the Gates then announces reunion shows in 2007 for dates in 2008, including major festivals such as Roskilde, Wacken Open Air, Graspop Metal Meeting, Sweden Rock Festival, Hellfest Summer Open Air, Bloodstock Open Air, and others, alongside a Japan tour with The Dillinger Escape Plan, Into Eternity, Pig Destroyer and Mayhem. The reunion runs through 2008, with a final UK performance at Bloodstock Open Air and a final show in Athens.

The 2008 Wacken Open Air performance appears on The Flames of the End, which also includes footage from other shows and a documentary about the reunion. The band announces another return in 2010 for a Gothenburg show at Metaltown 2011 and also confirms an appearance at Bloodstock Open Air in Derbyshire.

Other projects and associations

Tomas Lindberg works with Skitsystem, The Crown, Lock Up and Nightrage, and is also active in The Great Deceiver and Disfear. Adrian Erlandsson later leaves The Haunted to join Cradle of Filth. The band’s history is closely tied to Grotesque, the earlier Swedish death metal group from which Lindberg and other members come.