At the Gates

At the Gates
At the Gates performing live at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2008.
Background information
Origin	Gothenburg, Sweden
Genres	Death metal (early) melodic death metal
Years active	1990–96 2007–08 2010–present
Labels	Century Media Earache Peaceville
Associated acts	The Haunted Brujeria Cradle of Filth Liers in Wait Grotesque Nightrage The Crown Disfear Skitsystem Lock Up The Great Deceiver Oxiplegatz House of Usher Dead to Fall Darkest Hour Ceremonial Oath
Website	www.atthegates.se
Members	Tomas Lindberg Adrian Erlandsson Jonas Björler Martin Larsson
Past members	Anders Björler Alf Svensson Björn Mankner

At the Gates is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. They are a major progenitor of the Gothenburg sound. At the Gates were initially active from 1990 to 1996. In 2007, the band announced a limited reunion tour between April and September of 2008. However, they reformed for a second time in 2011, and have since continued to perform live. The band released At War with Reality, their first album in 19 years, in late 2014.

At the Gates were formed in 1990 by former members of the death/black metal band Grotesque. They recorded a debut EP, Gardens of Grief, for the Dolores record label. The EP led seminal metal label Peaceville Records to sign the band, and they released their debut full-length album, The Red in the Sky Is Ours in 1992.

After the recording of their second studio album, With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness, founding member and guitarist Alf Svensson left the band in 1993 to pursue tattoo artistry, graphic novel illustration and his solo electronic-opera-black metal project Oxiplegatz. He was soon replaced by former House of Usher guitarist Martin Larsson, who the band knew from underground tape trading. The band continued touring Europe, and were filmed for a Headbangers Ball special feature in Nottingham, UK in July 1993.

In 1994, At the Gates released their third album, Terminal Spirit Disease, which was hailed as a breakthrough album.

The band continued touring and in 1995 released their most commercially and critically successful album: Slaughter of the Soul, on Earache Records. The album is regarded as their strongest death metal effort, compared to previous albums. This album firmly rooted the band as one of the leaders of the Swedish metal scene, the "Gothenburg sound" of melodic death metal. The band received international attention for the album, gaining them several U.S. tours and heavy rotation of the music video for Blinded by Fear on MTV in America, but despite this international success, the Björler brothers departed in 1996. The remaining members decided it would be impossible to continue without them, so the band broke up.