At the Gates

At the Gates is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style metal alongside Dark Tranquillity and In Flames. 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.<ref name="heavymetalabout">Template:Cite web</ref> After reuniting for a one-off tour in 2008, the band reformed once again in 2011, 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).

History

Early career (1990–1994)

At the Gates were formed in late 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.<ref name="LarkinHR">Template:Cite book</ref> The EP led the label Peaceville Records to sign the band, and they released their debut album, The Red in the Sky Is Ours, in 1992.<ref name="LarkinHR"/>

After recording their second studio album, With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness, founding member and guitarist Alf Svensson left the band in 1993,<ref name="LarkinHR"/> to pursue tattoo artistry, graphic novel illustration and his solo electronic-opera-black metal project, Oxiplegatz. He was replaced by former House of Usher guitarist Martin Larsson,<ref name="LarkinHR"/> who the band knew from underground tape trading. The band continued touring Europe, and were filmed for a Headbangers Ball special feature in Nottingham, England 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.<ref name="AtTheGatesLucemFero">Template:Cite web</ref>

The band continued touring and in 1995 released their most commercially and critically successful album, Slaughter of the Soul, on Earache Records.<ref name="LarkinHR"/> The album is regarded as their strongest death metal effort, compared to previous albums.<ref name=huey>Steve Huey: [[[:Template:AllMusic]] Slaughter of the Soul - At the Gates], accessed on 18 September 2013.</ref> This album firmly rooted the band as one of the leaders of the Swedish metal scene, the "Gothenburg sound" of melodic death metal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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 the United States, but despite this international success, the Björler brothers departed in 1996.<ref name="LarkinHR"/> The remaining members decided it would be impossible to continue without them, so the band broke up.<ref>"At The Gates" Template:Webarchive, Earache.com.</ref>

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.<ref name="LarkinHR"/> 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)

File:At The Gates-Live-Metaltown 2011.jpg

At the Gates performing live at Metaltown Festival in June 2011

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,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as well as a tour of Japan with The Dillinger Escape Plan, Into Eternity, Pig Destroyer, and Mayhem in May 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Throughout July 2008, they toured the US and Canada on what was dubbed the "Suicidal Final Tour",<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> 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)

File:At the Gates 2016231182342 2016-08-18 Summer Breeze - Sven - 1D X II - 0834 - AK8I5737 mod.jpg

At the Gates live at Summer Breeze Open Air in 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

When asked whether At War with Reality was At the Gates' final album or if the band would 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."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In numerous interviews, members of the band 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.

New albums and death of Tomas Lindberg (2017–present)

On 8 March 2017, an official statement released by the band announced guitarist Anders Björler's departure. Nonetheless, they confirmed they were working on a follow-up to 2014's At War with Reality, which they were aiming to record and release in 2018.<ref name="6thalbum">Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> In September 2017, Jonas Stålhammar was announced as the new, permanent guitarist, though he 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> While the album remains rooted in the Gothenburg metal tradition, it features a wider range of musical styles, influences, and instrumentation. The ideas in the album are influenced by the writings of horror philosophers such as Thomas Ligotti and Eugene Thacker.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On 23 July 2022, At the Gates announced the departure of Stålhammar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 5 October, the band announced that original guitarist Anders Björler had rejoined the band.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They are now working on their eighth studio album following the return of Björler.

In August 2025, it was revealed on At The Gates' Facebook and Instagram pages that Lindberg was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma (mouth/pallet cancer) in December 2023. This resulted in him having the roof of his mouth removed, followed by radiation therapy, and ongoing problems with finding some of the cancer remaining. This was revealed as the reason for the band's continued silence on activity and new album progress. It was additionally claimed that most of the work on the next album was complete with the vocals among the first completed (prior to Lindberg's major surgery), and expected to be released soon.

On 16 September 2025, David Isberg (formerly of Opeth) announced on Facebook that Lindberg had died from the disease. Following Lindberg's death, the future of the band is not currently known, although they reportedly finished their eighth studio album before Lindberg's cancer treatment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to the band and several articles, the day before Tomas Lindberg went into surgery, he recorded all the vocals for the next album all in one day, mostly in one take so the band could continue on working with the new album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Dark Tranquillity played At the Gates' "Blinded by Fear" in the Swedish part of their "Gallery/Character" tour in October 2025, as a tribute to Tomas Lindberg.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Musical style and legacy

At the Gates' musical style has been described as melodic death metal<ref name="heavymetalabout"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and death metal.<ref name=mh61993>Robert Müller: Satanische Verse. In: Metal Hammer, no. 6, June 1993, p. 159.</ref> The band's early work presented a "progressive, complex way of crafting songs of dextrous[sic] melodic fluidity and variation", which would influence technical death metal, but also the black metal of Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger, for instance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Most of this material was composed by Alf Svensson, who, according to guitarist Anders Björler, fused the Swedish melancholy of Nordic folk music with death metal and classical music.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The style of later At the Gates "would inspire the whole Gothenburg region",<ref name="ekeroth222">Daniel Ekeroth: Swedish Death Metal. Second printing. Brooklyn, NY: Bazillion Points 2009, p. 222, accessed on 18 September 2013.</ref> but as Svensson had left the band, the commercial breakthrough Slaughter of the Soul was composed of more traditional song structures:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Steve Huey of AllMusic called it "a stripped-down, no-frills melodic death album that hit all the basic points of the style".<ref name="huey" /> In 2022, Eli Enis of Revolver wrote: "In many ways, At the Gates are the melodic death-metal band," stating the belief that the band's style had been imitated hundreds, if not thousands of times.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards

At the Gates were nominated for a Swedish Grammy (Grammis) for Slaughter of the Soul in 1996, but didn't win.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They won the Swedish Grammy (Grammis) in February 2015 for the 2014 comeback album At War with Reality.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The band were also awarded the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Inspiration Award in June 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Band members

Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 Current<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• Anders Björler − lead guitar (1990–1996, 2007–2008, 2010–2017, 2022–present)
• Jonas Björler − bass, keyboards, acoustic guitar, backing vocals (1990–1992, 1993–1996, 2007–2008, 2010–present), drums (1990)<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref>
• Adrian Erlandsson − drums (1990–1996, 2007–2008, 2010–present)
• Martin Larsson − rhythm guitar (1993–1996, 2007–2008, 2010–present)

Template:Col-2 Former

• Tomas Lindberg − lead vocals (1990–1996, 2007–2008, 2010–2025; his death)
• Alf Svensson − rhythm guitar (1990–1993)
• Björn Mankner − bass (1990)
• Cliff Lundberg − bass (1992)
• Jonas Stålhammar − lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2017−2022)

Session/touring

• Jesper Jarold − violin (1991–1992)
• Tony Andersson − bass (1992)
• Dirk Verbeuren – drums (2019)
• Ola Englund – bass (2019)
• Patrik Jensen – lead guitar (2022)
• Daniel Martinez – lead guitar (2022)

Timeline <timeline> ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:80 top:5 right:15 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1990 till:10/01/2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1991 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1990

Colors =

id:Vocals  value:red         legend:Lead_vocals
id:Guitar1 value:teal        legend:Lead_guitar
id:Guitar2 value:brightgreen legend:Rhythm_guitar
id:Bass    value:blue        legend:Bass
id:Drums   value:orange      legend:Drums
id:studio  value:black       legend:Studio_album
id:other   value:gray(0.6)   legend:Other_release
id:bars    value:gray(0.93)

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at:03/01/1993 color:other
at:07/27/1992 color:studio
at:05/07/1993 color:studio
at:07/18/1994 color:studio
at:11/14/1995 color:studio
at:04/19/2014 color:other
at:10/28/2014 color:studio
at:05/18/2018 color:studio
at:07/02/2021 color:studio

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bar:Tomas text:Tomas Lindberg
bar:Anders text:Anders Björler
bar:Jonas text:Jonas Stålhammar
bar:Alf text:Alf Svensson
bar:Martin text:Martin Larsson
bar:Björn text:Björn Mankner 
bar:Jonas2 text:Jonas Björler
bar:Cliff text:Cliff Lundberg
bar:Adrian text:Adrian Erlandsson

PlotData=

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11.-4)
bar:Tomas from:01/01/1990 till:07/05/1996 color:Vocals
bar:Anders from:01/01/1990 till:07/05/1996 color:Guitar1
bar:Jonas2 from:01/01/1990 till:02/27/1990 color:Drums
bar:Björn from:01/01/1990 till:02/27/1990 color:Bass
bar:Alf from:01/01/1990 till:09/15/1993 color:Guitar2
bar:Jonas2 from:02/27/1990 till:08/31/1992 color:Bass
bar:Adrian from:02/27/1990 till:07/05/1996 color:Drums
bar:Cliff from:08/31/1992 till:09/30/1992 color:Bass
bar:Jonas2 from:03/25/1993 till:07/05/1996 color:Bass
bar:Martin from:09/15/1993 till:07/05/1996 color:Guitar2
bar:Tomas from:03/01/2007 till:11/23/2008 color:Vocals
bar:Anders from:03/01/2007 till:11/23/2008 color:Guitar1
bar:Adrian from:03/01/2007 till:11/23/2008 color:Drums
bar:Jonas2 from:03/01/2007 till:11/23/2008 color:Bass
bar:Martin from:03/01/2007 till:11/23/2008 color:Guitar2
bar:Tomas from:12/01/2010 till:09/16/2025 color:Vocals
bar:Anders from:12/01/2010 till:03/08/2017 color:Guitar1
bar:Jonas from:03/08/2017 till:07/23/2022 color:Guitar1
bar:Adrian from:12/01/2010 till:end color:Drums
bar:Jonas2 from:12/01/2010 till:end color:Bass
bar:Jonas2 from:12/25/2010 till:end color:Bass
bar:Martin from:12/15/2010 till:end color:Guitar2
bar:Anders from:10/05/2022 till:end color:Guitar1

</timeline>

Discography

Template:Main Studio albums

• The Red in the Sky Is Ours (1992)
• With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness (1993)
• Terminal Spirit Disease (1994)
• Slaughter of the Soul (1995)
• At War with Reality (2014)
• To Drink from the Night Itself (2018)
• The Nightmare of Being (2021)

External links

• Template:Official website
• Template:Allmusic