It is so heart-warming to see this, the eighth, and maybe final, album from Sweden’s genre-defining At The Gates being given top marks across the board by established reviewers. I am sure the late, and stupendously great, Tomas ‘Tompa’ Lindberg would want this to be both the case, and absolutely not the case.
‘The Ghost Of A Future Dead’ was recorded two years prior to the extremely sad passing of At The Gates talismanic frontman, Lindberg. And whilst it should always be viewed as the next step for this iconic Gothenberg melodic death metal band, it has become almost a shrine to their fallen friend. There are two very distinct levels to any review of this record.
Firstly, as an album, and assessing its place in both the At The Gates back catalogue as well as the wider genre, this is exceptionally good. It may not be the unachievable heights they hit with 1995’s Slaughter Of The Soul…but no one would ever expect that because that was as much about timing and circumstance, as it was about it being a brutally sick and refreshing album. This is, however, one of the strongest releases to date and takes the immense peaks they hit with the utterly incredible return ‘At War With Reality’ (2014), yet successfully adds more on top.
I would suggest (humbly) that this is, in the second half of the At The Gates career, the pinnacle.
And so, secondly, there is no getting away from the fact that this is a posthumous portal into yet another gargantuan statement from vocalist Tomas Lindberg. A man whose face, more than any other, can achieve both pseudo-aggressive ‘metal snarl’ and the softest, kindest eyes all at the same time. James Hetfield is the only other who comes close. This is the kind of company that Tomas Lindberg was, unknowingly, within.
His vocal delivery was unique, and took as little from hardcore as it did from death metal. It was just how he heard things and how he wanted them to sound. It was both genius and a sprinkling of happy accident all at the same time. There was no voice like it, there is no voice like it, and it’s unlikely there ever will be.
I am a very matter of fact person when it comes to matters of mortality. I am sure that Tomas Lindberg was too. However, to leave this exceptional album, with the parts he played within it, on the planet, and at a time you were unaware you would leave the planet so soon, is nothing short of breathless – and teaches us all the age-old lesson that you should do everything to the best of your ability, waste not one second, and live every moment like it was your last.
RIP Tompa. You legend. \../
Best Paired With: a candle.
Reviewed by Jaff.
At The Gates – The Ghost Of A Future Dead is out now on Century Media.
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