It seems that the future for Gothenburg based, Swedish melodic death metal veterans At The Gates turns out to be naught more but promising and extremely intensive. Lately, the Swedish quintet announced that they are gearing up to embark in the infamous Decibel Magazine fourth touring edition, which gathers besides them as headliners, the supportive blasts from United States hardcore unit Converge and United Kingdom’s old-school death metal supergroup, Vallenfyre, still with an opening special appearance yet to be announced during this December, 2014.
Last year’s edition saw Decibel Magazine Tour bringing United Kingdom’s reanimated veterans Carcass on stage, while keeping them on the countryside tour dates for the very first time in five years, at the same period that Carcass was promoting their long-awaited comeback album ‘Surgical Steel’ in North America. This 2015, everyone is preparing to be savagely slain again with the comeback of At The Gates after their 19 years of hiatus while bringing forth ‘At War With Reality’, that judging by their new single, ‘Death And The Labyrinth’, the Swedish masters managed to retain their essence tight and recognizable throughout their long absence from the scenery. The Decibel Magazine Tour is sponsored by Century Media Records, Nuclear Blast Records, IndieMerch, Handshake Inc., Lace Music, Deathwish Inc. and Profound Lore Records. It will cover the North American soil in fifteen unforgettable dates, offering a tremendously vast variety of musical blends.
[blockquote cite=”Tomas Lindberg”]Super-stoked at finally getting to be part of the Decibel tour! A great mag, with great people behind it! And finally being able to rip out new stuff in front of a U.S. club audience? Sweet! The bill looks amazing, too! The most relevant hardcore band on the planet and the fiercest old-school death metal band on the same night as us? Excited![/blockquote]
Decibel Magazine cover stars Converge couldn’t help their enthusiasm regarding this case, while stating:
[blockquote cite=”Jacob Bannon”]We are excited to be part of this fantastic and diverse tour. For me, At The Gates are one of the most important bands in contemporary heavy music. It will be an honor to tour the country with them.[/blockquote]
Converge last release dates from 2012, the ‘All We Love We Leave Behind’, a groundbreaking album that caught the band obliterating the boundaries in extreme music.
Vallenfyre on the other hand, is a supergroup that joins former and present multinational members of both British gothic, doom sorrowful romantic ambientes Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Swedish At The Gates. The act is preparing to present the audience with their 2014’s old-school death metal revitalized songs taken from their highly acclaimed album, ‘Splinters’.
[blockquote cite=”Gregor Mackintosh”]This will be Vallenfyre’s first U.S. tour, and what a tour. I think this is the most diverse and exciting bill of any metal tour I have seen this year. Great to be a part of it. We will be injecting some British filth into your unsuspecting American ears. Cheers.[/blockquote]
If you are unitary of those impatient metalheads just dying to grab an advanced event package, you might want to recognize that there will be a number of VIP premium packages made available in each market, providing you with a limited edition t-shirt, 18 x 24 tour poster, “Skip The Line” pass, the exclusive digital issue of Decibel Magazine, a voucher for a 15% rebate on any purchase made at IndieMerch’s webster, a free digital sampler from Century Media Records. The price of this top-notch exclusive package is, however, way less than what you would expect to pay for a ticket and tour t-shirt at the event!
Taken from their highly anticipated new record, ‘At War With Reality’, the single ‘Death And The Labyrinth’ emerges to tease all those waiting patiently for the official release of their album, which is due in stores on October 27th, 2014, via Century Media Records.
[blockquote cite=”Tomas Lindberg”]We had a very special idea about the kind of approach we wanted for the first video from ‘At War With Reality’. What we needed was someone gifted enough to throw himself artistically into the project full on. The lyrics to the song are very multi-layered and surreal, so we wanted someone to create a fevered dream world that went with the melancholic frustration and dramatic desperation that we feel comes across in the song. This is exactly what Patric has created for us. It’s his vision of the music and lyrics, which compliments the track perfectly in my opinion. I couldn’t be happier![/blockquote]
Production director also took in some words to add regarding this creation:
[blockquote cite=”Patric Ullaeus”]It’s always nice to work with creative artists who are like-minded. Ideas seem to flow easily. We had a lot of fun making our vision come true. Being on these amazing locations in Antelope Canyon, Arizona was truly an unforgettable experience.[/blockquote]
‘At War With Reality’ has been recorded with the definitive formation of their latest album, ‘Slaughter Of The Soul’, and it commemorates the return of At The Gates over 19 years of secretiveness. Uncompromising, ‘At War With Reality’ possesses the sonority and musical unity that characterized them ever since the passing of their debut album, 1992’s ‘The Red In The Sky Is Ours’. The typical old-school melodic Gothenburg vibe still surfaces throughout their efforts, promising to leave older fans of the band satisfied with the final result. Afterward 25 years of existence, At The Gates still excites and captivates everyone’s attention by holding their tracks with the traditional sound, nowadays pretty much revived.
- ‘El Altar Del Dios Desconocido’
- ‘Death And The Labyrinth’
- ‘At War With Reality’
- ‘The Circular Ruins’
- ‘Heroes And Tombs’
- ‘The Conspiracy Of The Blind’
- ‘Order From Chaos’
- ‘The Book Of Sand (The Abomination)’
- ‘The Head Of The Hydra’
- ‘City Of Mirrors’
- ‘Eater Of Gods’
- ‘Upon Pillars Of Dust’
- ‘The Night Eternal’
‘At War With Reality’ is available in the following formats:
- Jewelcase CD (with 20 pages booklet)
- Digipack CD (with 20 pages booklet plus 2 bonus tracks and patch)
- Cassette (limited edition to 500 copies worldwide)
- Digital download
- Gatefold 180 gram LP (with 20 page booklet and poster)
- Limited mediabook CD (with 40 page booklet, 2 bonus tracks and patch)
- Limited to 3,000 copies worldwide 3-disc artbook (with 48 page booklet, 4 bonus tracks, 5.1 surround mixed DVD, and patch)
- Limited to 1,000 copies worldwide 2×10” boxset exclusively via CM Distro (with 20 page booklet and poster)
The 12” LP format will be available in the following colored versions:
- Black (unlimited)
- Transparent red (limited to 300 copies via CM Distro EU)
- Dark green (limited to 500 copies via CM Distro EU)
- Clear (limited to 500 copies in Sweden)
- Lilac marble (limited to 100 copies via CM Distro USA) *sold out*
- Blue marble (limited to 200 copies via CM Distro USA) *sold out*
- Magenta marble (limited to 200 copies via CM Distro USA) *sold out*
- Ash grey marble (limited to 500 copies via CM Distro USA)
- Silver (limited to 400 copies in the USA)
- Gold (limited to 1500 copies in the USA)
- White (limited to 100 copies; exclusive 2015 MDF edition in the USA)
The iTunes pre-order includes a free download of the album’s title track upon purchase (‘Death And The Labyrinth’ is, notwithstanding, now available for download since October 21st in North America).
The limited edition of the media book and digipack formats will include the bonus tracks ‘Language Of The Dead’ and ‘The Skin Of A Fire’, as well as a vintage At The Gates logo patch. The 3-disc art book format will also include the patch and those same two bonus tracks, as well as a demo version of ‘Eater Of Gods’ and a cover version of ‘Re-Animation’ by Canadian thrash metal legends, Sacrifice (the 3rd disc is an exclusive bonus DVD featuring a special 5.1 surround mixing of the album).
For the North American fans of At The Gates, a limited 180-gram LP reissue of the band’s classic release ‘Gardens Of Grief’ will also be available starting on Black Friday (meaner; November 28th). This special limited edition release will be available only through selected independent record shops and includes a foldout poster and never before published photographs of At The Gates.
At The Gates recently gave an exclusive interview to Decibel Magazine detailing their new release, ‘At War With Reality’. The interview will be published on this November issue, featuring the band as the front cover story. This new issue is now available on the newsstands and online for the price of $6,00 American Dollars.
At The Gates are also gearing up to come back to the United Kingdom in December with titans Triptykon for a co-headlining tour, with Morbus Chron as supporting act.
To reckon is that the latest live-front confirmations from At The Gates includes Norway’s Blastfest, on February 21st as well as the announcement that Rotten Sound will appear as support act on three of the shows announced in Finland due in November, which also serves as a kick off ‘At War With Reality’ touring circle.
