Album Review: At the Gates "Slaughter of the Soul"

At the Gates is a band that is considered one of the main bands that have adopted the Gothenburg style of melodic death metal. I began listening to their 4^th studio album called Slaughter of the Soul and was very easily and quickly impressed! This is their last studio album before their first disbandment in 1996. The style is very much in the direction of early In Flames and you can hear the complex melodies of the guitar work which is a giveaway but you know what? Quality music like this deserves love, admiration, praise, and respect. Slaughter of the Soul is only 34 minutes long but it is 34 minutes that the avid melodic death metal fan wants to spend listening, analyzing, and interpreting the musical beauty that is on this album.

From the first song called Blinded by Fear you know this album is going to be something special. For me at least, Swedish melodic death metal is just a fine choice of music to listen to make a rough night better. The title track is especially in the style of The Jester Race.

Lyrically the next song called Cold is pretty much the same as the previous song. Some people attempt to rid the world of deception and lies only to find out that the walls are closing in on them. The walls are definitely moving away from me as the motivation to write is ever so strong even on a night where I may not be feeling my best.

Under a Serpent Sun is a song that tells the story of how man came to be on this Earth. There is no rest for the children of GOD as the end of life will be the same for all of us. In this world the survival of the fittest is what dominates whether it is fair or not. Into the Dead Sky is mostly an acoustic instrumental song that fans would have heard in the early to mid-1990’s. This period should be thought of as a sort of “golden age” for heavy metal due to the rise and immense popularity of melodic death metal which was really taking shape. It is a particularly great instrumental song to listen to on any night as the classical style will take your mind off any bad things or bad thoughts. The musical nature of this song may have influenced other bands later and it speaks to the talent of these guys.

Basically, Slaughter of the Soul is a well-constructed melodic death metal album but it is also an album that tells us that eventually life will end for all of us in spite of the good and evil that happens in this world. Does the album get a perfect score? Not quite but it does score at least in the low 90’s which is solid enough for these Swedes.