When In Flames burst onto the world metal stage in the mid-’90s, they helped introduce the world to melodic death metal. It was a sound that would come to be known as “the Gothenburg sound,” taking the name of the city in Sweden that spawned In Flames, Dark Tranquility, At The Gates, and many other early architects of the genre. Over the course of 20 years and eleven studio albums, In Flames has grown to be one of metal’s biggest and most influential bands spawning countless imitators. The band’s sound has evolved beyond the melodeath genre that they helped create, but the name In Flames will always be synonymous with “the Gothenburg Sound.”

Here, from their legendary fourth album, Clayman, is In Flames with the official video for “Only For The Weak.”

Watch the video here, below.

At The Gates
At War With Reality
CD | MP3 | Vinyl
Century Media Records
Release date: October 27, 2014

At The Gates‘ 1995 album Slaughter of the Soul is considered by many experts to be one of the most pivotal moments in death metal history. Decibel Magazine went so far as to label it “the most influential death metal album of the next decade.” That recording, despite being the band’s fourth release, is among the very first to feature the sound that would come to be known as melodic death metal or “the Gothenburg sound,” a reference to the city in Sweden that spawned At The Gates and their equally influential contemporaries, In Flames.

It is also a record that most thought would serve as At The Gates’ epitaph. In 1996, only a year after its release, the band split acrimoniously when brothers Anders (guitar) and Jonas Bjorler (bass) decided to leave and form The Haunted. The rest of the band resented them for leaving at the height of their success, but decided that At The Gates could not continue without them.

On October 27th, Swedish melodic death metal pioneers At The Gates will release their comeback album At War With Reality. The disc is one of metal’s most anticipated releases in recent memory and the first from At The Gates in 19 years. Personally, I already woke up in a giddy mood because I will be receiving an advance copy of the record later today. So imagine my excitement upon discovering that today also marks the release of the first official video from the album.

“Death and the Labyrinth” is the opening track of At War With Reality and it does not disappoint.

Watch the official video for “Death and the Labyrinth” here below.