ＴＨＥ• ＷＥＬＬＳ • ＰＥＲＳＰＥＣＴＩＶＥ
• 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗢𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗯𝘂𝗺𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗠𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 •
𝙱𝚢 𝙴.𝙽. 𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜 — 𝙳𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟸𝟾, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟹.
June 12, 2001 — Century Media Records re-released At the Gates' 1991 demo "Gardens of Grief" along with Tomas Lindberg’s pre-At the Gates band Grotesque's 1996 compilation "In the Embrace of Evil" on a single disc under exclusive license from Black Sun Records.
“Gardens of Grief”:
As unique as, but somewhat different from "The Red In The Sky Is Ours", "Gardens Of Grief" was not as melodic, or as technical as the bands debut studio album (with the exception of "All Life Ends"). For their demo, the bands sound was much darker and even more primitive. The demo, while short, is quite diverse, with the first song, "Souls Of The Evil Departed" being a fast-paced number. The following tracks, "At The Gates" and "All Life Ends" are more atmospheric, while the only track from this demo to make it to their debut, "City Of Screaming Statues" is the most melodic.
All in all, At The Gates left listeners (myself included) wanting for more, making "Gardens Of Grief" as important a release as "The Red In The Sky Is Ours".
“In the Embrace of Evil”:
Grotesque were legendary in underground Death Metal scene. Best known for the members; Tomas Lindberg and Kristian Wåhlin, the creative duo were later joined by guitarist Alf Svensson, and together they recorded three demos, and the EP “Incantation”.
Musically, Grotesque were a Blackened Death Metal band before there was such a thing, forging a path for Swedish Death Metal bands, such as Necrophobic, Marduk and Dissection.
Before they could ever record a full-length album, the band dissolved, with the bands At the Gates and Liers in Wait forming from their wake, and Wåhlin continuing on with his artwork (Wåhlin later became known as an artist, having created album artwork for a variety of different bands, including Emperor, Dissection, Dark Funeral and Wintersun).
Originally released in 1996 (5 years after the band’s dissolution), “In the Embrace of Evil” isn’t a complete retrospective, as some of their early demo material is missing, but it contains the band’s most significant tracks (see track-list below).
In conclusion, this split album is a must have for any fan of At the Gates, Grotesque and Death Metal in general.
Rating: 8/10
“In the Embrace of Evil” Track-list:
The tracks “Blood Runs from the Altar”, “Submit to Death” (6-7 on this disc) & “Nocturnal Blasphemies”, “Spawn of Azathoth”, and “Incantation” (11-13 on this disc) are remixed songs taken from the 1990 EP “Incantation”.
The tracks “Thirteen Bells of Doom”, “Fall into Decay”, “Seven Gates”, and “Angels Blood” (5 & 8-10) are remastered songs from the unreleased 1989 demo “In the Embrace of Evil”.
The tracks “Church of the Pentagram” and “Ripped from the Cross” (14-15 on this disc) were recorded by vocalist Tomas Lindberg, guitarist Kristian Wåhlin, and drummer Tomas Eriksson in 1996 specially for this release (though the band had split-up five years prior).
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