At the Gates are innovators. From debut album, The Red In The Sky Is Ours, through comeback stunner, At War With Reality, to new album, To Drink From The Night Itself the Gothenburg-based death metal act have always traversed the left-hand path on their own terms. The Swedes are keenly aware of who they are, where they come from, and how they got to where they are today.
In the nineties, At the Gates spearheaded The New Wave of Swedish Death Metal. In the aughts, then-swansong album, Slaughter Of The Soul, served as a feature-rich treasure chest for a host of upstarts to plunder. When At the Gates returned in 2008 — a full twelve years after they disbanded —their return was celebrated and the follow-up to Slaughter Of The Soul — now placing handsomely on Top All-Time Metal Album Lists — hotly anticipated. Now, four years after At War with Reality, the Swedes recently unleashed their indomitable spirit, ceaseless ingenuity, and raw power on new album, To Drink From The Night Itself.
Launched in 1996 by guitarist Patrik Jensen, bassist Jonas Björler and drummer Adrian Erlandsson, The Haunted enjoy a cult status in the metal world, boasting a diverse catalogue of material that would have left other bands digging their own grave. Whether the band’s continued success is due to an open-minded fanbase, stellar musicianship, or an infallible sense of timing when it comes to releasing new material – perhaps a combination of all three – The Haunted continue to be an unpredictable and beloved force to be reckoned with in spite of the curveballs thrown at their loyal followers and the line-up changes since releasing their self-titled debut in 1998. Their latest album, Strength In Numbers, is the latest testament to that claim. The Haunted’s legacy of remaining diverse without diluting the sound that seeded a loyal fanbase two decades ago and is continuing to bring in new listeners not only by its compositional class and performance prowess, but also by its relentless heaviness, the displayed atmospheric intensity and the material’s consequential imminent impact.
Over 20 years into their existence, Swedish blackened thrash metallers Witchery stay the course crafted on 2016’s praised In His Infernal Majesty’s Service album and offer a slab of eleven new deadly tracks on their newest full-length studio effort I Am Legion. Forging onwards with their recently revamped line-up they enhanced their newest nocturnal anthems with an organic, yet powerfully up-to-date sound, which deeply pleased every fan of blackened Thrash/Death. A revamped and brilliant new line up has served to open a next chapter in the history of Witchery and I Am Legion marks a bewitching next step forwards for these pioneers of the blackened thrash/heavy metal style.
At the Gates: The Ultimate Triple Bill Kill 2019 Tour Dates
Thursday 25th April – BRISBANE The Triffid
Friday 26th April – SYDNEY Manning Bar
Saturday 27th April – MELBOURNE Max Watts
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