Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Decibel Hall of Fame: At The Gates, Slaughter of the Soul



This is an album I had in my collection already of course as well. Don't let all of the watered-down Americanized versions of this band bum you out, or cause you to forget how crucial and unstoppable this album really was. I remember that during my brief stay in Atlanta, Georgia in 1995, Gordon Conrad (who then worked at Earache and now works at Relapse) sent me this CD.

I have Gordon to thank for hipping me to Coalesce that year. Gordon's label, Escape Artist, would later release material from my band, Burn It Down. But I digress. This album rips. I'd put it alongside Megadeth's Rust in Peace as one of the best of its decade in the metal category. That year I became acqainted with Fear Factory's Demanufacture as well. While exciting and different like At The Gates (and the subject of more repeated listens at the time), I don't think it holds up as well.

Am I crazy for liking the first Haunted album even better than this record? I know it's not as important, however, Peter Dolving's vocals really added something to the stew, not to mention that Jensen guy from Witchery, he's a heavy metal badass as well.

1 comment:

Tash said...

I agree about the Haunted comment. First song on their first album, listening to the Haunted giving their middle finger to the world was life changing. Suicide Nations is a close second.