FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…
On October 28, 2014, At The Gates released their fifth full-length studio album, At War with Reality via Century Media Records.
It is the band's first album since Slaughter of the Soul (1995), marking the longest gap between two studio albums in their career. It is a concept album based on the literary genre of magic realism.
At War with Reality received positive reviews from music critics, and music videos were released for the songs Death and the Labyrinth, Heroes and Tombs, The Book of Sand (The Abomination) and The Night Eternal. The album is the band's last studio album to feature co-founding guitarist Anders Björler, who had departed from the band in March 2017.
Background:
After breaking up in 1996, At the Gates announced on October 18, 2007 that they would reunite for several reunion shows in the summer of 2008. Throughout July 2008, they toured the US and Canada on what was dubbed the Suicidal Final Tour, and the last date of the tour took place in Athens, Greece, with guest The Ocean on September 21, 2008. Despite playing a handful of successful reunion shows, members of At the Gates stated that they would not record a new album, suggesting that it would be "pointless to release something more than ten years after Slaughter of the Soul."
After a two-year hiatus, At the Gates announced their second reunion in December 2010, and that they would do a "limited run of select shows" in 2011. They also announced that they would "stick to the initial promise of not making any more music." Asked in October 2012 about the possibility of new At the Gates material, frontman Tomas Lindberg replied, "Well, basically, I've learned never to say never. We said we'd never do any more shows whatsoever and now we're doing shows (again). 2008 was the last tour we were going to do and now we are doing more (shows). I learned not to say never you know."
On January 21, 2014, At the Gates released a distorted video on YouTube showing lines of lyrics on it, followed by text saying "2014", possibly hinting toward possible lyrics for an upcoming album. Six days later, the band revealed on Facebook via a new cover photo and profile picture, that they had signed to Century Media Records, and would begin recording their fifth album At War with Reality in June/July for a tentative October/November 2014 release.
On August 14, the band announced they had completed the album and that it would be released on October 28.
In a November 2014 interview, Lindberg was asked whether At War with Reality was At the Gates' final album or the band would continue recording. His response was, "We can't say really. We have no plans of stopping but we've broken promises before so it's best not to say anything."
The band concluded the At War with Reality World Tour in August 2016, which had run for almost two years following its release.
The quote on the track "El altar del dios desconocido" is taken from the novel On Heroes and Tombs written by Argentine writer Ernesto Sabato.
Critical Reception:
Upon release, At War with Reality received universal acclaim. Ray Van Horn Jr. of Blabbermouth.net rated the album eight-and-a-half stars out of ten, and called it "probably the most anticipated Metal album" of 2014. He finished his review by saying that, "At the Gates make mincemeat out of this album and efficiently plot most of their songs to wrap in far less time than their acolytes. The average song on At War with Reality clocks in between two-and-a-half and four minutes, yet all feel like far more has transcended. That's something special. Inadvertently and unfairly credited for the ascension of Metalcore, At the Gates releases a demonstrative comeback album that's simply metal, forget the 'core-rellations."
At War with Reality was At the Gates' first album to chart in multiple countries. It peaked at No. 3 on the Swedish chart Sverigetopplistan and reached No. 53 on the US Billboard 200.
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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