The Nightmare of Being

by At the Gates

Overview

The Swedish heavy metal legends' seventh full-length effort, Nightmare of Being sees At the Gates continuing to tweak their Gothenburg-style death metal with wild abandon. A blistering chimera of discord and melody, the ten-song set builds on the promise of its predecessor, 2018's To Drink from the Night Itself, delivering deft arrangements, surprising sonic detours, and lyrics steeped in existential dread. Softly fingerpicked classical guitar sets the table on the crushing opener "Spectre of Extinction," which pairs the band's signature guitarmonies and galloping blast beats with Tomas Lindberg's choked but powerful death-metal howl. Largely bereft of the cavernous reverb that's become synonymous with the genre over the decades, Nightmare of Being achieves its icy atmospherics through brute strength, which makes the occasional forays into jazz ("Garden of Cyrus"), symphonic black metal ("Touched by the White Hands of Death"), and Krautrock ("Cosmic Pessimism") all the more thrilling. At the Gates have been at the fore of the Scandinavian death metal scene since the early '90s -- Terminal Spirit Disease and Slaughter of the Soul are seminal works -- and the dark and inventive Nightmare of Being should ensure that they remain there. ~ James Christopher Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	08/27/2021
Label:	Century Media
UPC:	0194398649511

Album Credits

Performance Credits

At the Gates   Primary Artist
Tomas Lindberg   Vocals
Adrian Erlandsson   Drums,Percussion
Jonas Bjoerler   Piano,Mellotron,Chamberlin,Guitar (Bass),Organ (Hammond),Vocals (Background)
Jonas Stalhammar   Guitar
Peter Nitsche   Double Bass
Fredrik Hulthe   Viola
Martin Jacobsson   Brass,Woodwind
Jo Quail   Cello,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Andy La Roque   Guitar
Tino Fjeldli   Violin
Per Stalberg   Vocals,Saxophone
Martin Larsson   Guitar (Rhythm)
Rajmund Follmann   Cello
A.A. Williams   Cello,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Alberto Alvarez Garcia   Clarinet
Anders Gabrielsson   Saxophone
Gunnar Hjorth   Guitar (Classical)
Jill Widen   Flute
Lars-Erik Almberg   Tuba (Bass)
Marcus Carlsson   Bass,Bassoon
Danielle Van Berkom   Violin,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Jonas Stahlhammar   Guitar,Soloist
Jos Pijnappel   Violin,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Andy LaRocque   Guitar,Soloist

Technical Credits

Andy LaRocque   Composer
Jens Bogren   Mixing,Producer,Mastering
At the Gates   Producer
Jonas Bjoerler   Composer,Lyricist
Philip Glass   Composer
Jonas Stalhammar   Composer
Russ Russell   Mastering
Thomas Hedblom   Engineer
Ester Segarra   Photography
Martin Jacobsson   String Engineer
Bo Lund Soerensen   Engineer
Jens Borgen   Drum Engineering
Linus Corneliusson   Drum Editing
Andy La Roque   Composer,Bass Engineer,Guitar Engineer
Robert Fripp   Composer
Ricardo Borges   Mixing Assistant
Eva Nahon   Artwork
Jonas Stahlhammar   Composer
Lindberg Redant   Composer,Lyricist