MP3: At the Gates - Terminal spirit disease
I've got a guest post today over at Dagensskiva as part of their At the Gates "Suicidal Final Tour" coverage: [click here]
It's funny, I consider "Slaughter of the soul" to be near-perfect, but it's actually not my favorite AtG record. That honor goes to "Terminal spirit disease". I'm not sure if it's because I've burned myself out on "Slaughter..." or because I heard "Terminal..." first, but that's the way it is. I suppose it could also be because the riffs are way more intricate, striking a balance between the weird, overtly-technical songwriting of departed guitarist Alf Svensson and the straightforward, raw power of the tracks on "Slaughter". It's the sound of a band in transition, a trait made even more apparent by the addition of three live versions of old tracks, including one of their very first songs ("All life ends"). It also helps that the acoustic instrumental (a thrash album prerequisite) "And the world returned" is infinitely better than its counterpart on "Slaughter" ("Into the dead sky").
Regardless of which album you prefer, even if you're a die-hard "The red in the sky is ours" fan, At the Gates is a band that has been and will be sorely missed. If you were/are lucky enough to see them this week, I envy you.
At the Gates - Terminal spirit disease