Recorded January 1995 Label Earache Release date 14 November 1995 | Length 34:08 | |
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Released November 14, 1995 (1995-11-14) Nominations Grammis Award for Hard Rock/Metal of the Year Similar At the Gates albums, Melodic death metal albums | ||
At the gates slaughter of the soul full album
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. The album was recorded and mixed in Studio Fredman, early 1995.
Contents
- At the gates slaughter of the soul full album
- Musical appearances
- Reissues
- Critical reception
- Public reception
- Accolades
- Track listing
- Credits
- At the Gates
- Guest musicians
- Production
- Artwork and design
- Studios
- Songs
- References
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.
"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.
At the gates slaughter of the soul full album
Musical appearances
Tracks from the album have made appearances in several video games.
Reissues
A 2002 Reissue contained 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. The 2006 reissue contained everything from the 2002 reissue, but also included an additional bonus DVD, which featured a 35-minute behind-the-scenes documentary as the highlight. The 2008 reissue contains everything from the 2002 and 2006 rereleases (all audio and DVD material), as well as additional DVD footage—an eight song live set, recorded in Kraków, Poland on December 30, 1995.
Critical reception
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."
Public reception
Slaughter of the Soul was very well received by the public. On Rate Your Music the album has an average rating of 3.75 of 5, based on more than 3,400 ratings, and on Sputnikmusic the album has an "excellent" average rating of 4.2 of 5, based on more than 1,650 ratings.
Accolades
In 2005, the album was ranked number 300 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time. Metal Injection ranked Slaughter of the Soul No. 8 on their list "Top 10 Influential Heavy Metal Albums."
Track listing
All lyrics written by Lindberg; all music composed by Björler, Björler, except where noted.
Credits
Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.
At the Gates
Guest musicians
Production
Artwork and design
Studios
Songs
1Blinded by Fear3:11
2Slaughter of the Soul3:03
3Cold3:28