Slaughter of the Soul
| Slaughter of the Soul | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by At the Gates | ||||
| Released | November 14, 1995 | |||
| Recorded | May-July 1995 | |||
| Genre | Melodic death metal | |||
| Length | 34:08 | |||
| Label | Earache | |||
| Producer | Fredrik Nordström, At the Gates | |||
| At the Gates chronology | ||||
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Slaughter of the Soul is the fourth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band At the Gates, released on November 14, 1995. It was their last album before their eleven year breakup from 1996 to 2007. Slaughter of the Soul is considered a landmark in melodic death metal and played a major role in popularizing the Gothenburg scene, alongside The Jester Race by In Flames and The Gallery by Dark Tranquillity.[1] The album was recorded and mixed in Studio Fredman May - July 1995.
Andy LaRocque's neo-classical guest solo on "Cold" was widely acclaimed as one of the greatest metal solos and guitarist Anders Björler admitted in 2007 that he still couldn't play it properly.[2]
"Blinded by Fear" was covered by The Haunted (composed largely of ex-At The Gates members) on their Japanese version of their live/double disc album, Live Rounds in Tokyo and was also covered by Fleshgod Apocalypse on their Mafia EP. The song also appeared in the game Rock Band 2 as downloadable content.
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |   [3] |
| Allmusic | [4] |
| Rock Hard (de) | 7/10[5] |
Reviews for Slaughter of the Soul have been mostly positive. Allmusic's Steve Huey awarded the album five stars and called it an "excellent example of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal, and certainly the band's best and most focused album to date."[4] In 2005, the album was ranked number 300 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.[6]
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Tomas Lindberg, Anders Björler and Jonas Björler, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Blinded by Fear" | 3:12 | |
| 2. | "Slaughter of the Soul" | 3:02 | |
| 3. | "Cold" (Solo by Andy Larocque) | 3:27 | |
| 4. | "Under a Serpent Sun" | 3:58 | |
| 5. | "Into the Dead Sky" (Tomas Lindberg, Jonas Björler) | 2:12 | |
| 6. | "Suicide Nation" | 3:35 | |
| 7. | "World of Lies" (Tomas Lindberg, Anders Björler, Jonas Björler, Martin Larsson) | 3:35 | |
| 8. | "Unto Others" | 3:11 | |
| 9. | "Nausea" | 2:23 | |
| 10. | "Need" | 2:36 | |
| 11. | "The Flames of the End" (Tomas Lindberg, Anders Björler, Lars Johansson) | 2:57 |
Re-issue (2002)
Contains 11 tracks from the original 1995 release of Slaughter of the Soul, plus 6 bonus audio tracks. Three of the bonus tracks were cover songs, two were demo tracks, and 1 was a previously unreleased track, recorded during the Slaughter of the Soul sessions.
Bonus audio tracks
| No. | Title | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12. | "Legion" (Slaughter Lord cover) | 3:54 | |
| 13. | "The Dying" (Unreleased track from Slaughter of the Soul sessions) | 3:18 | |
| 14. | "Captor of Sin" (Slayer cover) | 3:19 | |
| 15. | "Unto Others" ('95 Demo) | 3:06 | |
| 16. | "Suicide Nation" ('95 Demo) | 3:22 | |
| 17. | "Bister Verklighet" (No Security cover) | 1:55 |
Re-issue (2006)
Contained everything from the 2002 re-issue, but also included an additional bonus DVD, which featured a 35-minute behind-the-scenes documentary as the highlight.
2006 Bonus DVD
- "Making of Slaughter of the Soul" featurette
- Deleted Scenes
- Music video: "Blinded by Fear"
Re-issue (2008)
Contains everything from the 2002 and 2006 re-releases (all audio and DVD material), as well as additional DVD footage—an eight song live set, recorded in Kraków, Poland on December 30, 1995.
2008 Bonus DVD
- Live from Kraków, Poland
| No. | Title | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Terminal Spirit Disease" | ||
| 2. | "Cold" | ||
| 3. | "The Swarm" | ||
| 4. | "Blinded by Fear" | ||
| 5. | "Nausea" | ||
| 6. | "Forever Blind" | ||
| 7. | "Need" | ||
| 8. | "Kingdom Gone" |
- "Making of Slaughter of the Soul" featurette
- Deleted Scenes
- Music video: "Blinded by Fear"
Musical appearances
Tracks from the album have made appearances in several video games.
- "Blinded by Fear" was made available as downloadable content for the Rock Band video game series on March 28, 2008. Later, it was included in the game's retail "Metal Track Pack" add-on content disc, released on September 22, 2009 in North America. The song is considered one of the most difficult songs in the series to perform on drums, due to its fast tempo.[7]
- The title track is featured in both Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned and Tony Hawk's Proving Ground.
Credits
- Tomas Lindberg − vocals
- Anders Björler − guitar, drums on track "Into the Dead Sky"
- Jonas Björler − bass guitar
- Adrian Erlandsson − drums
- Martin Larsson − guitar
Guest appearances
- Andy LaRocque − guitar solo on "Cold"
Production
- At the Gates and Fredrik Nordström − production
- Noel Summerville − mastering
Other
- Kristian Wåhlin − artwork, design, photography
- Björn Mankner − photography
References
- ↑ "Melodic Death Metal". About.com. 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
- ↑ Morgan, Anthony. "“The Flames of the End”? - Guitarist Anders Björler wishes to pen the final chapter in the glorious history of Swedish legends At The Gates". Lucem Fero. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- ↑ "At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul Review". About.com. 2011-09-14. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Huey, Steve (1995-11-14). "Slaughter of the Soul - At the Gates". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
- ↑ Wendel, Kai. "Rock Hard". issue 101. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
- ↑ [...], Rock Hard (Hrsg.). [Red.: Michael Rensen. Mitarb.: Götz Kühnemund] (2005). Best of Rock & Metal die 500 stärksten Scheiben aller Zeiten. Königswinter: Heel. p. 92. ISBN 3-89880-517-4.
- ↑ "'Blinded By Fear' - At the Gates // Rock Band". Rockband.com. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
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