At the Gates: still standing

Reunited death metal bands like Emperor, Immortal, Cynic and Atheist should all take notes from At the Gates. Rather than phone in a token festival performance, play a one-off show in a tiny club that charges $90 per ticket or spend the set trying out new material At the Gates embarked on a full tour in appropriately-sized venues. They're playing all the best songs from their too-short recording career, and no death metal fan should miss this tour.

How much did this show rule? The band ripped into "Slaughter of the Soul," the title track from their definitive album, and Irving Plaza erupted at the instant singer Tomas Lindberg bellowed his first. Sporting a hat and a Manchu that conjured Morgan Spurlock, Lindberg led the band through Slaughter classics like "Cold," "Suicide Nation" and "Nausea," all of which superseded their conventional titles and gave a stronger wallop from the stage than from the album. Previously unbeknownst to to me, the rest of the band's oeuvre kicks ass, and older songs like "Terminal Spirit Disease," "Windows" and "Raped by the Light of Christ" were some of the evening's highlights.

Guitarists Anders Björler and Martin Larsson were mixed a little low, but the band's tenacity and the Plaza's acoustics overcame that travesty for the most part. The band seemed happy to be playing together again, thanking the audience far more than they needed to (it was our pleasure) and taking glee in sounding as brutal as non parodic death metal band could be.

At the Gates are much more concise than most of their death metal followers, displaying a hardcore appreciation that would be further explored with Lindberg's work in Disfear. Despite their brevity, At the Gates' songs pack in the best death metal elements, and sprawling solos, unrelenting double bass on Adrian Erlandsson's drum kit and the occasional mellow interlude were all represented in the set.



It's incredible that Slaughter of the Soul was released in 1995. It sounds as modern as Amon Amarth or Arch Enemy, and it's hard to think that melodic death metal was barely existent when At the Gates debuted. Historically relevant or not, the music rules, and Slaughter opener "Blinded by Fear" was the best encore anyone could hope for. At the Gates topped even that by following with "Kingdom Gone," a rare track from their first album that would highlight any Swedish death metal band's discography. I am now a bigger At the Gates fan than ever before.

Consider At the Gates a metal Pixies: Hugely influential, with a legacy that grows every year, and still amazing on stage. If they never record another note, they certainly don't have to.

The openers were a diverse bunch. Starters Toxic Holocaust played effective but generic punk-metal, treading on the groundwork laid by Motörhead, Venom and Discharge. Virginia-based thrashers Municipal Waste brought the best parts of S.O.D. and Suicidal Tendencies to the table, echoing the punk influences and comedic (tasteless) lyrics of both. Songs like "Headbanger Face Rip" had the audience chanting along as soon as they learned the words, and I'm guessing they sold a bunch of merch that night. Preceding At the Gates were Darkest Hour, who could be classified as metalcore but had enough of a death metal sound to not be out of place. Their music was strong if not spectacular, and their energetic stage show made them worthy of a spot on the coveted bill. On an unrelated note, it was the first time I ever saw a kid crowd surf with a boogie board.

Iann Robinson got a good interview with Tomas Lindberg before the show...