At The Gates unveils ‘At War With Reality’ album concept

Back in the days when death metal decided to go a bit melodic, it took the natives of Gothenburg At The Gates opened the door for other Swedes to experiment with their sound and aesthetics. This time, a little bit older and a bit wiser, after 19 years without releasing a new studio album, At The Gates will released ‘At War With Reality’ in October 28th via Century Media Records and as preparation they are giving us the artwork that you can see below.

At The Gates is a band that broke standards of what was conceived as death metal with a switch in the style, with their biggest hit until now, ‘Slaughter of the Soul’ back in 1995 it brought new horizons to gender in serious need of a revamp. Ironically, with great success came great discordance, and At The Gates decided to call it quits for the time being. After a previous reunion in 2007, where At The Gates primarily were giving to their fans another chance to see them live, it was stated by the band itself that there would not be any plans to make a record. It seems like fans have some power after all, because after this reunion, in 2010 decided to give it another go, and as a result comes ‘At War With Reality’, an album that seems suitable for more mature musicians who have seen plenty, enough to believe that they have something to say.

[blockquote cite=”Tomas Linberg”]The concept of ‘At War With Reality’ is based on the literary genre called ‘magic realism.’ The main style within this genre is the notion that ‘reality’ is ever-changing, and needs to be constantly re-discovered and re-conquered . . . We felt that Costin’s artwork style would be the perfect visual contribution to this album, so he became the natural choice…[/blockquote]

‘At War With Reality’ artwork comes by the pen of Costin Chioreanu, which resume includes bands such as Arch Enemy, Morgoth and Darkthrone, based on what he have heard of the album, it seems like he gave the conceptual art that goes hand in hand with something described by the band itself as “magic realism”.

[blockquote cite=”Costin Chioreanu”]’At War With Reality’ is by far the most complex visual story I have ever created, from all points of view. From the very first moment the band presented the concept, I found it extremely stunning and at the same time super-challenging . . . I like to think that visual art and music are tools to explore our minds — to create, to discover and to push the limits . . . At The Gates, one of my all-time favorite metal bands, offered me a chance to explore a new dimension.[/blockquote]

Regardless of the nature of the album, if one is a follower of the Gothenburg sound, it is only reasonable to hear something different that is created with new set of mind. Therefore, only time will tell if this album will make, but in my personal opinion, the way it has been described seems good enough to give it a chance.