When At The Gates announced that they were working on their first album in nearly two decades, hardcore fans such as myself were both excited and a bit apprehensive. They had, after all, gone out on a high note with their 1995 masterpiece Slaughter of the Soul. So imagine our collective sigh of relief when At War With Reality was released in late October of last year and picked up right where its predecessor had left off. The album was so amazing, in fact, that it ended up tied for the number one spot on my Best Metal Albums of 2014 list. Adding to that rush of excitement, it was announced not long after the album’s release that the band would be touring North America in the Spring of 2015 headlining the Decibel Magazine Tour and they would be bringing along three of the most kick-ass bands on the planet to boot. At The Gates, Converge, Pallbearer and Vallenfyre all on the same bill? The wait until March would surely kill me!

As March 27th slowly approached, it was also announced that At The Gates would be doing an in-store meet and greet and signing copies of At War With Reality at 4PM on the day of the show at Vacation Vinyl on Sunset Boulevard. I decided that this would be a great experience for my 12-year-old son Jesse since he is now amongst the new generation of ATG fans and his band actually covers the title track of Slaughter of the Soul.

So when the day came and Jesse was out of school, we jumped in the car and made the drive from Burbank into Hollywood and got on line with a couple of hundred other metalheads in the 90 degree heatwave. We were worried that we were going to be late, but made it with about ten minutes to spare. I ducked inside the store to grab a couple of copies of the record for them to sign while Jesse went and held a spot on the line. I rarely purchase physical product anymore, but I thought some signed copies of the record would be a cool souvenirs for the boy. Vacation Vinyl is an awesome little hole in the wall that reminded me a lot of the record stores of my mid-western youth in the 70s and 80s, so that was another great thing to share with my son. The staff were really cool too, not at all your typical record store snobs. I ended up buying a copy of the double gatefold album on Silver Vinyl, a CD copy, the 7″ split single that they just released with Voivod, and a deluxe box set edition of the double vinyl.

The band, unfortunately, were running nearly a half an hour late due to coming straight from sound check several miles through L.A. rush hour traffic. Once they arrived though everything ran like clockwork. They were actually quite smart to have the entire line go through and get autographs without taking pictures. Everyone who wanted photos with the band were told to hang around and they would accommodate everyone afterward. And to their credit they stayed until every single fan in attendance was satisfied. All of the members of the band were very nice and down to Earth guys who seemed to genuinely enjoy meeting and talking to their fans. They seemed especially happy when I told them that Jesse was amongst the new generation of fans. Our photos turned out mildly fuzzy, but I’m sure that my son and I will both cherish them and the experience of meeting some of our idols and finding them to be cool people for many years to come.

Stay tuned right here for my full review where I’ll tell you all about the actual show and share some footage of the night. Until then, enjoy these videos from all 4 of these amazing acts and check out the Tour and In-Store Appearances dates.

In-Store Appearances

–March 27th @ Vacation Vinyl in Los Angeles from 4-5:30PM
–March 30th @ Scrape Records in Vancouver from 5-6PM
–April 11th @ Vinyl Altar in Philadelphia from 4-5:30PM

Tour Dates

AT THE GATES – live 2015
Mar. 27, 2015 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Mar. 28, 2015 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Mar. 29, 2015 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Mar. 30, 2015 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Mar. 31, 2015 – Seattle, WA – Showbox at the Market / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Apr. 2, 2015 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Apr. 3, 2015 – Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Apr. 4, 2015 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Street / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Apr. 5, 2015 – Minneapolis, MN – Mill City Nights / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Apr. 6, 2015 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Apr. 8, 2015 – Toronto, ON – The Phoenix / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Apr. 9, 2015 – Montreal, QC – Metropolis / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Apr. 10, 2015 – Boston, MA – Royale / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Apr. 11, 2015 – Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE
Apr. 12, 2015 – New York, NY – Webster Hall / Decibel Tour + CONVERGE, PALLBEARER & VALLENFYRE (SOLD OUT!)

May 1, 2015 – Örebro (Sweden) – Ritz + TRIBULATION
May 2, 2015 – Sundsvall (Sweden) – Pipeline + TRIBULATION
May 22, 2015 – Warszawa (Poland) – Progresja
May 23, 2015 – Kraków (Poland) – Studio
May 29, 2015 – Cape Town (South Africa) – The Mercury Live
May 30, 2015 – Johannesburg (South Africa) – Carfax Club
Jun. 16, 2015 – Rome (Italy) – Ippodromo Capannelle + SLIPKNOT
Jun. 19, 2015 – Copenhagen (Denmark) – Copenhell Festival
Jun. 20, 2015 – Dessel (Belgium) – Graspop Metal Meeting
Jun. 21, 2015 – Clisson (France) – Hellfest
Jul. 3, 2015 – Hassleholm (Sweden) – Siestafestivalen
Jul. 16, 2015 – Tokaj (Hungary) – Kingdom of Hegyalja Festival
Jul. 18, 2015 – Syðrugøta, Faroe Islands – G! Festival
Jul. 31, 2015 – Wacken (Germany) – Wacken Open Air
Aug. 6, 2015 – Gävle (Sweden) – Getaway Rock Festival
Aug. 8, 2015 – Jaromer (Czech Republic) – Brutal Assault Festival
Aug. 12, 2015 – Oslo (Norway) – Oyafestivalen *
Aug. 15, 2015 – Cetatea Rasnov (Romania) – Rockstadt Extreme Fest
Aug. 29, 2015 – Istanbul (Turkey) – Headbangers Weekend *
Sept. 4, 2015 – Bogotá (Colombia) – Teatro Metropol
Sept. 18, 2015 – Gothenburg (Sweden) – Liseberg
Oct. 28, 2015 – Perth (Australia) – Amplifier Bar *
Oct. 29, 2015 – Adelaide (Australia) – The Unibar *
Oct. 30, 2015 – Melbourne (Australia) – Corner Hotel *
Oct. 31, 2015 – Sydney (Australia) – Manning Bar *
Nov. 1, 2015 – Brisbane (Australia) – Brightside *
Nov. 7, 2015 – Leeds (UK) – Damnation Festival

Vallenfyre – “Splinters” (Official Video)

Pallbearer – “The Ghost I Used to Be”

Converge – “Aimless Arrow” (Official Video)

AT THE GATES – “Heroes And Tombs” (Official Video)