At the Gates' 1995 classic Slaughter of the Soul is not only one of the defining albums in melodic death metal, but also a foundational record in shaping the sound of American metalcore. Darkest Hour vocalist John Henry spoke for a generation of heavy-music artists when he told Revolver: "When I heard Slaughter of the Soul, something changed in me."
That said, when At the Gates vocalist Tomas Lindberg was asked recently by Chaoszine to name the ATG album he's proudest of, it would've been totally reasonable to expect to cite Slaughter of the Soul. Instead, Lindberg — a prolific musician also known for Disfear, Lock Up, Skitsystem and other bands — pointed to At the Gates' 2014 comeback record, At War With Reality, which was their first album since Slaughter.
"It's hard to say, but I think the one I'm most proud of is the comeback album with At the Gates, At War With Reality, because there was a lot of pressure," Lindberg explained. "People were looking really closely at what we were doing because [they wanted to see] 'should they come back or not?' And then it got good reviews and stuff like that.
"I mean to be honest I was almost afraid of the vocals. I mean I've been singing on a lot of other records, but that was the first At the Gates in a long time. I knew I was a better vocalist than back in the day technically, but would the fans expect it to have this old-school sound? I don't know. So yeah. I really just focus and try to see if I can do my best, but I'm really happy about it now."
