At The Gates
By Will Oakeshott

In 1996 a shock announcement occurred which shook the foundations of melodic death metal, European heavy music and countless headbangers worldwide, this was the disbanding of Swedish pioneers At The Gates. On the cusp of global domination mostly due to the genre redefining fourth studio album ‘Slaughter Of The Soul’ released by the band in 1995, the departure of brothers Anders and Jonas Björler, guitarist and bassist respectively brought about a premature end to the outfit touted as leaders of the Swedish metal scene and a benchmark in the Gothenburg sound.
Since, two reunion tours have taken place in 2007 and 2011, the latter becoming more of a permanent fixture. In the early months of this year it was revealed that ATG would be releasing their long awaited and heavily anticipated fifth album ‘At War With Reality’, 19 years after the predecessor. But, as vocalist Tomas Lindberg describes, this decision to return to the spotlight was not made in haste.