At the Gates reveals At War With Reality cover art

at_the_gates-at_war_with_reality

Swedish death metal/metalcore hybrid At the Gates revealed the cover artwork for their upcoming album At War With Reality and issued some details about the concept and purpose of the new work.

The artwork, designed by Costin Chioreanu, reflects the topical direction of the new album toward “magical realism,” a literary genre that emphasizes the fluidity of what we think of as a static and linear reality. Said Tomas Lindberg, vocalist:

The concept of ‘At War with Reality’ is based on the literary genre called ‘Magic Realism’. The main style within this genre is the notion that ‘reality’ is ever-changing, and needs to be constantly re-discovered and re-conquered.

The band also released some of the song titles from the new album, including “Death And The Labyrinth,” “The Circular Ruins,” “The Conspiracy Of The Blind,” “Order From Chaos,” “Eater Of Gods” and “Upon Pillars Of Dust.”

The album was recorded with Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman. Jens Bogren, who mastered the new work at Fascination Street Studios, had this to say about the musical experience that it promises:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0vkElvuk-c

At the Gates line-up:
Tomas Lindberg – Vocals
Anders Björler – Guitars
Martin Larsson – Guitars
Jonas Björler – Bass
Adrian Erlandsson – Drums

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14 thoughts on “At the Gates reveals At War With Reality cover art”

  1. Daniel says:

    Arabesque spaceship dildo > plain text > videogame turbo meter.

    The quality of the logo on the cover of an At the Gates album reflects the quality of the music similar to how the first letters of the titles of the first four Morbid Angel albums were the grades of the albums: A, B, C, D.

  2. witten says:

    So at least the logo is that of With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness, rather than that of the last two albums. That and the descriptions make it seem like they are trying to go back to the early sophisticated style, rather than the melodeath/metalcore era. I still don’t have high hopes (having been disappointed by so many of these reunions), but so far the chance of something decent coming out has not been completely excluded.

  3. shat the gates says:

    I see a vagina. What happened to their (cool) old logo?

  4. SERIOUS QUESTIONER says:

    Was pre -94 black metal a rebellion against liberalism in any way?

    1. In every way, much as Black Sabbath was in most ways.

    2. mooz says:

      Yes, their heroes were Nietzsche and Vidkun Quisling.

  5. fenrir says:

    I’m hopeful. Within a modest range.

  6. Hector says:

    This bodes well for the music, the conceptual direction of the artwork and (assumingly) the lyrics is Lovecraftian and death metal in nature.

    1. fenrir says:

      Magic realism, definitely not Lovecraftian in nature. The Ever-changing reality they say they want to portray is not in tune with the normal nihilist Death Metal stance that there is one crude reality which is unchanging independently of our perceptions.

      1. Hector says:

        Not in tune? On one side is the flawed, emotional, human perception of reality and on the other is Reality. The notion of ever-changing reality doesn’t necessarily mean that you get to pick the truth, but more importantly it does mean that you should never be comfortable with what you know, which is a Lovecraftian notion.

  7. Hector says:

    You who interpret the title as “at war with reality” must be autists. Obviously that name was chosen because “at war with (the human perception of) reality” would lack artistic poignancy. Learn how to fill in the blanks, man.

  8. tiny midget says:

    omg i can’t wait to never listen to this !! yay !
    only the people with scottish descent would give this a fair chance.

  9. vic snaggletooth says:

    “magical realism” sounds like old At the gates tone/atmosphere could come back. Lyrical thought meant that and if i can sense the tone if should be archaic ..yes. If some stems of “Gardens of grief” touched this album it would be a great listen. No high expectation or chilling in spine but hoping for something refreshing and classic old school tune from them.

  10. John S. says:

    “I know it’s kind of a gamble or what you want to call it. But this is a very creative album that we are writing right now, it’s not a comfortable ‘Slaughter Of The Soul Pt. 2’ or anything like that, it’s an album that I feel is pushing our own boundaries, and challenges our collective creative intellect.”

    “This is an album that is so full on conceptually and creatively, so involved and ambitious that I am almost compelled to call it pretentious. And that brings me back to the feeling that was with us when we were creating ‘With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness’. I’m not saying that this album sounds like that album, but it has that burning urge, the sense of importance that album is trying to portray.”

    ” … the record will be filled with a lot of the SLAYER worship and riffage that is ‘Slaughter Of The Soul’, but people will also recognize the more dark, melodic side that was ‘With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness’, and maybe some of the more pretentious arrangements that was part of our early career.”

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