The Red In The Sky Is Theirs: The Triumphant Return Of At The Gates
Tuesday, 07 October 2014
Written by Alec Chillingworth
Sometimes, good things are just best left alone. Remember System Of A Down's so-called comeback? Or how about Axl Rose murdering his own songs alongside a revolving line-up of hired hands? Too many times immaculate works of art have been despoiled and to see such a thing happen short-changes fans and leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth.
At The Gates, though, have bucked this trend. It's been 19 years since the release of their melodic death metal classic 'Slaughter Of The Soul', but they're not done with us yet. 'At War With Reality', the Swedes' fifth full-length, is set to arrive later this month and is an absolute masterclass in the art of the comeback.
“Unintentionally – totally unintentionally – it sounds like all our albums at the same time, doesn't it?” vocalist Tomas Lindberg said. “When we did 'Slaughter Of The Soul' back in the mid-‘90s, I remember Jonas [Björler, bassist] – and, in the end, all of us – was a bit disappointed that we'd actually missed out some of the main, core elements of the band: the melancholy, the more abstract arrangements and the darkness of the earlier albums.
“It was more straightforward and aggressive all the time. With 'At War With Reality', we thought that we should really try and better that. Everything that we learned during 'Slaughter Of The Soul' would still be there, but incorporated with that early melancholy and desperation.”
But that’s not to say that At The Gates haven’t crafted a tome that picks up where 'Slaughter Of The Soul' left off. The hyper-speed drum assaults remain, as do the the demented vocals and the gruesome feeling of being smashed around the head with a blunt gardening tool. The vitality and urgency still courses through it, with references to the band's early works proving to be the icing on the cake.
“There's a lot of different moments on the album,” Lindberg said. “With 'Slaughter Of The Soul', there was a very Point A to Point B, one-dimensional feel to it. This one has a lot of different emotions. If I want to just get my head down and go for it, then something like Pillars Of Dust is thrashy and aggressive. If I'm in more of a melancholic, revolutionary mode then The Night Eternal is a song that will speak to me more directly.”
Not only are the tunes titanic in both construction and execution, but the lyrical content is sort of complex, ambitious conceptual matter that would give Dani Filth a run for his money. Taking inspiration from Jorge Luis Borges, among other writers, Lindberg has persevered with his lyrical theory to create an album that traverses ideas of magical realism and the nature of reality.
“It's a very big concept,” Lindberg said. “In a way, I was struggling at first to find the right balance. I needed to do the total Tomas Lindberg lyrical achievement on this one. I needed to put in everything I wanted to say about politics, religion...it got me nowhere and I was weighed down by my own perceptions of what I wanted to do.
“So I really thought about what would be the most surprising thing to do for this comeback album. What about a concept record? How weird would that be, to come back with a concept record? Especially a concept record inspired by literature from South America in the '50s and '60s. I really tried to write the same kind of lines as these writers, with a lot of subplots and intertextuality. Like a post-structuralist, post-modernist kind of style with a lot of questions about one reality, one truth and one explanation for everything.”
Once Lindberg tuned in to the idea, the words came quickly. “It was still written in the same style as earlier At The Gates records,” he added. “Not so much abstract poetry, but more a topically and theoretically grounded version. It's a more worked-out way of writing those kind of lyrics, and as soon as I got that idea I just fired on all cylinders and started writing and just exploded.
"Some of theses songs have reference points; there are more obvious reference points like the titles of The Circular Ruins and The Book Of Sand (The Abomination), but I have chosen to point that out with a title referring to the novel. If I have been inspired by something, it doesn't mean that a particular song is about a particular novel – it's more like my thoughts started with that novel and then went in a different direction.”
This is high-brow stuff and 'At War With Reality' is this band's crown jewel. Throughout its many twists and turns, At The Gates are champing at the proverbial bit, hounds of hell foaming at the mouth and eager to get at the throats of critics, sceptics and fans alike. It's 2014 and At The Gates are up, running and ready to annihilate. But one year from now, will they still be in that frame of mind?
“Well, we've proven that we're not the band to go out and make a statement about the future,” Lindberg laughed, referring to the arduous 'Will they? Won't they?' speculation that has followed them. “We learned that lesson. I'd say that, at this moment, we're an active band in 2014. We're releasing records, we're touring and we're doing everything a current band would do. But to say what we're doing in 2015 would be – at the moment – stupid.
“I mean, there were points in the writing process when we turned around and said: 'This part's great, but it needs developing a little further...maybe we could use it on the next album?' Then we all just went: 'Wait, did you just say next one?' Yeah, let's get to that later. We just want to live in in this moment. It's a great achievement and a daring experiment for us, so we're nourishing that sensation for now.”
Fair enough, then: artists notorious for contradicting themselves refuse to make a comment that may result in them contradicting themselves. We like it. At the moment just be glad that At The Gates are back. According to Lindberg, too, the Gothenburg godfathers of death metal are in ruder health than ever before.
“It's much, much easier,” he chuckled, comparing At The Gates now to the ramshackle unit they once were. “We have more acclaim and success now, which gives us a fortunate position within the metal scene. We've all grown as people – it's much easier for five people in their 40s to get along than it is for five people in their 20s to get along. We know each other so well – we're the best of friends, we have a great time together and there's so little ego and stress involved. We're very fortunate.”
Finally, after nearly two decades of recording inactivity, the band are poised to release their most accomplished, challenging and musically advanced album yet, followed by a subsequent tour that's landing in the UK this December. “At last,” Lindberg said in closing. “I can't wait to play new songs live for the first time in 20 years!” Neither can we, mate. Neither can we.
'At War With Reality' is out on October 27 through Century Media.
At The Gates Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu December 04 2014 - LONDON The Forum
Fri December 05 2014 - MANCHESTER Manchester Academy 2
Sat December 06 2014 - GLASGOW Glasgow Garage
Sun December 07 2014 - BIRMINGHAM Oobleck
Mon December 08 2014 - CARDIFF The Globe
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