AT THE GATES
BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2018
AT THE GATES
Playing: Sunday, 12th August 2018

Stage: Ronnie James Dio Stage

BAND PHOTO GALLERY
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AT THE GATES are one of the most important bands in the history of death metal. But, with that sort of reputation comes expectation and pressure. Especially when you are dealing with the band's first new studio album since 1995.

“What we wanted to do was to be… More old school, but to ensure everything was also up to date,” says vocalist Tomas Lindberg. “Because we didn't want to be rooted in the past.”

The Gothenburg band have been careful not to raise fans' hopes for a new album since they reformed in 2007, 11 years after splitting up. When they did return, it was with the full classic line-up, namely, Lindberg, guitarists Anders Björler and Martin Larsson, bassist Jonas Björler and drummer Adrian Erlandsson. But, for a long time, the five-piece were careful to distance themselves from any thoughts of new recordings.

“We decided about a year ago that we would do a new album,” reveals Lindberg. “But we never went public with this for a while, because we didn't want to put any demands on ourselves.”
But slowly, the band assembled the material for new album 'At War With Reality'. The actual writing process was fairly straightforward, but what took time was getting the song structures and arrangements exactly as they wanted them to sound. At no stage did the band rush the process, but through the exchange of ideas by email and person, it all took shape.

All of the riffs and melodies here came from the Björler brothers, with Anders being responsible for 70 percent. And lyrically, there's a concept at work, which again differentiates the material here from the four previous records.

“It's not that I've come up with a storyline that runs throughout. But there's definitely a theme. And this is Magic Realism.”

Magic Realism is a sub-genre of surrealism, where magic being cast as part of everyday life. It's been best defined as 'what happens when reality is invaded by something too strange to believe'. “I've been reading a lot of 1950s/60s South American authors in this genre, and felt this idea could be adapted to fit into the world of death metal. So that's where my lyrical inspirations come from. And, throughout the songs there are hints acknowledging some of the writers I have read. Yes, the lyrics are ambitious, but they are also a return to the early days of the band when the words had a philosophical edge and depth.” Less