One of the big shows of 2008 was the reunion of Gothenburg Metal legends At The Gates. We were not originally supposed to be at this show because the logistics couldn’t be worked out for our attendance but at the eleventh hour our friend Jasmine St. Clair came through with an extra ticket. The show was a resounding success and be two nights of Metal. We documented our thoughts which you can all see by scrolling past the logo below.

Artist: At The Gates
Venue: The Fillmore NY (New York, NY)
Opener: Municipal Waste, Darkest Hour, Toxic Holocaust
Date: 7/9/2008
Label: Earache Records

If you have been following the way that the Technical Death Metal scene has progressed and improved over the years, it is painfully clear that without the influences of bands like At The Gates that the geography of this Heavy Metal landscape would have been a very different place for us to experience. If you are among those who might require a little bit more background on this then you should be aware that At The Gates was one of the big three bands who founded what came to be referred to as “The Gothenburg Sound”. The other two bands are Dark Tranquillity and In Flames and each of them is still active in today’s Metal scene. At The Gates had broken up in 1996 and formed different projects that were taken to different levels and it wasn’t until 2007 that a reformation and reunion tour was planned. In 1995, the band released what was referred to as their most seminal work in “Slaughter Of The Soul”, and this genre staple would be the focus of tonight’s performance at The Fillmore NY in New York City. The original plan was for there to be only one gig but the immediate sell out of the first scheduled date led to the wise decision to add a second show. Oddly enough, this second performance would now fall before the original date making it the first show for the band in NYC. Supporting the band would be Darkest Hour, Municipal Waste and Toxic Holocaust and sadly I would arrive slightly after Darkest Hour had started and hence would find out that I missed the other two openers. What I did hear from Darkest Hour was pretty good and I remember seeing them at another show over the earlier year and felt that for this gig were much more on top of their game then I remembered them being that first time. So inside I was and was made aware that this new second/first show had also sold out in record time and everyone in attendance was hungry to hear these Gods of the Gothenburg sound without any question. When the house lights dimmed for their arrival it seemed like all Hell was breaking loose.
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