- Country: Sweden
- Style: Melodic death metal
- Label: Century Media
- Release date: 18 May 2018
Losing co-founding guitarist Anders Björler should have hurt more than it does. This is the first At The Gates record without him and the first with Jonas Stålhammar, and the songwriting weight shifted onto bassist Jonas Björler. The result is darker and more claustrophobic than At War with Reality, less about catchy leads and more about grinding atmosphere.
After the short instrumental “Der Widerstand”, the title track kicks the door in with a skittering Gothenburg riff and a vocal that sounds genuinely desperate. “A Stare Bound in Stone” and “Daggers of Black Haze” are the keepers: fast, nasty, with melodies that sneak up rather than announce themselves. Russ Russell’s production is raw in a good way, the drums dry and punchy.
The middle stretch sags a little, with a couple of songs that feel like sketches of better ones. But “The Mirror Black” ends things on a slow, heavy, almost doom-laden note, and it’s the boldest thing they’ve done since the reunion.
Best tracks:
To Drink from the Night Itself
A Stare Bound in Stone
Daggers of Black Haze
The Mirror Black
Author’s rating: 8.3/10
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