The Nightmare Of Being

Album review

At The Gates has always made a point of doing elegant work. Whether that means lyrics, arrangements or visuals, the band led by Tomas Lindberg (on vocals) has always cultivated a certain sense of doing things differently within the bloated Swedish death metal scene. Their 1995 album Slaughter of the Soul was so highly regarded (it served as a crucial reference point for the then-nascent American metalcore scene) that it ended up becoming a poisoned chalice for the band, which felt trapped by the magic formula it had created. At the end of 19 years of silence, the troupe was finally able to free itself and continue to push its creative process forward. At War With Reality (2014) and To Drink From the Night Itself (2018) showed signs of renewal, but The Nightmare of Being is a truly giant step that really transcends the group's identity to date. This seventh record, a concept album based on the philosophy of pessimism, goes easy on fans to begin with: the band is on familiar territory with Spectre of Extinction and The Paradox. However it is on the startling track Garden of Cyrus that the group begin to reveal a new face. Bassist and sole songwriter Jonas Björler is working dark new colours into his palette. Completely indifferent to the chatter of critics, he brings in instruments which are quite rare for this genre: here, a saxophone replaces the lead guitar; there, we hear a flute, and later on, a violin... The triptych Garden of Cyrus / Touched by the White Hands of Death / The Fall into Time leaves the listener speechless, unlike Lindberg, whose hoarse, shrill voice is the thread that links the group back to its more abrasive past. One can draw a parallel between this spectacular evolution and that of Björler's other band, The Haunted, between 2006 and 2011. Shunned by audiences at the time, the musicians found themselves obliged to quickly return to their original style. We really hope that At The Gates continue to go in whatever direction they please, though, as The Nightmare of Being is absolutely majestic and fascinating. Any step back from here would be a huge disappointment, especially since the group's new sound is not mellowing at all: instead, they are creating new channels through which to express their inner darkness, as did their English colleagues from Paradise Lost or the Quebecois magicians of Voivod. In any case, wherever the band goes from here, they will have marked 2021 with a major album that will surely make many end-of-year "highlights" lists. © Charlélie Arnaud/Qobuz