Seton Hall
ALBUM REVIEW- At The Gates: At War With Reality
Date: October 29, 2014The wait is finally over.
After 19 years since At the Gates' masterpiece release Slaughter of the Soul, the metal community has been given an early Christmas present. Years of the band denying the possibility of a new album since getting back together in 2008 were shut down when news of this leaked early in the year. The bands' fifth studio release and one of the most anticipated albums of the year, At War With Reality, dropped on October 28th..
At War With Reality features the same exact lineup as when the band broke up in 1996 enhancing the hype even more about it. Tomas Linderberg's vocals sound like this album was released in the 90s, he hasn't lost a step. While it was hard judging this album without Slaughter of the Soul creeping into my head periodically, it certainly did not disappoint. When more information was released about the album back in August it was revealed this album was revolved around a central theme of "Magic Realism" according to vocalist Linderberg.
"The main style within this genre is the notion that 'reality' is ever-changing, and needs to be constantly re-discovered and re-conquered," he said in a statement to the bands' record label Century Media.
After a minute Spanish introduction, the album starts you off with "Death and the Labyrinth", one of the shorter but definitely one of heavier hitting songs off the album. The riffs on the album sound like what you would expect from At the Gates but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It is what they built their career around. The album as a whole sticks the roots of Melodic Death Metal but there are still moments in every song where you can tell the band was trying something new to modernize the dying genre.
Overall, At War With Reality, was a times slightly predictable in terms of the song progression, but it still a very enjoyable listen. The songs I would recommend the most are, "Death and the Labyrinth", "The Book of Sand (The Abomination)", "The Conspiracy of the Blind" and "Upon the Pillars of Dust"
This album is for fans of At the Gates older material, Carcass, Death or Dark Tranquility. There aren't too many melo-death releases this year so this album is a nice change of pace.
Please note that all review opinions are the opinions of the writer's alone. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of those at WSOU 89.5 FM, Seton Hall University, or any of its affiliates.
Posted in: Metal, WSOU Exclusive, Album Review
