AT THE GATES
AMPLIFIER BAR, PERTH
October 28th 2015
After their debut Australian tour in 2012, it wasn't certain whether At The Gates would ever return to Australia again considering that it was part of a one-off reunion tour with no new album in the works. Fast forward 3 years later and the band returned to our shores, this time with a set of new songs which has been going over really well with fans worldwide. We couldn't wait to see how they would fit with the older stuff!
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Opening the night were black metal band Advent Sorrow who gave a short but intense atmospheric performance, complete with make-up and all. While the faster stuff was certaintly interesting, it was when the band hit those mid-tempo grooves that the music really took off. But right after was the more anticipated Malignant Monster who just recently announced they were calling it quits after a number of years being an active part of the Perth metal scene. This would sadly be their second last show with a final show to be announced soon. With that being said, the band gave it their all as they proceeded into their brand of extreme metal that rivals even the biggest and heaviest of bands in the world. The band played various tracks from their back catalogue including "Foul Play" and their last release "Yours In MUrder" which is just about the perfect soundtrack to a horror film. It's unfortunate to see them go but we wish them all the luck in their future endeavours and the music they have released will forever be cemented in underground metal history.
At The Gates stepped up not long after and kicked off the tour with the intro and opening track from their latest album "At War With Reality" with "Death And The Labrynth", a speedy track that eventually grooves into a hooky beat. It's apparent almost immediately how well the new material fits with the older stuff as the band get into songs from "Slaughter Of The Soul" which was their last album before they originally broke up. While the set was mixed with both old and new, the majority was focused on the last 2 albums with a fair chunk from "At War With Reality" including "Heroes and Tombs" and "eater Of Gods" which were absolute highlights to hear.
Vocalist Tomas Lindberg sounded amazing, pretty much exactly as the album versions and was completely interactive with the crowd, getting the fans riled up and participating as much as possible. Along with the Bjorler brothers on bass and guitar, Martin Larsson on guitar and drummer Adrian Erlandsson, the band were on fire as they belted through a fantastic set that really captured the band's essence as a melodic death metal band. With as much fun as they seem to be having on tour and in particularly tonight's show, you have to wonder as Tomas stepped off the stage at the end as the rest of the band brought the set to an close, if the band are looking to continue this more into the future with another album again. We certaintly hope so but in the meantime, it's great to have the band back again!
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Review by Andrew "Schizodeluxe" Massie
Photos by Tammie Parr - Molotov Enterprises And Photography
