At The Gates may not have been the biggest band of their generation, but if you’re a millennial or Gen Z metalhead, chances are your favourite musicians owe these death metal trailblazers a debt of gratitude. From as early as 1992 debut album The Red In The Sky Is Ours, the Gothenburg five-piece were out to reshape their genre, and their vision finally caught on with 1995’s Slaughter Of The Soul: a svelte shot of adrenaline that inspired the likes of Trivium, Lamb Of God and many other future superstars.
The band who shaped the 21st-century metal sound sadly didn’t get to revel in their success, as they went on hiatus from 1996 to 2007. However, they went on to enjoy a well-earned victory lap with their reunion tour and three post-comeback albums. Following the tragic death of frontman and co-founder Tomas Lindberg aged 52, this is the essential guide to their oeuvre – without which, the face of metal would be very different and, probably, much worse.
