The Red in the Sky Is Ours

Ah, Sweden. A home to a wide array of extreme music sub genres. Some well recognized, other fairly overlooked. Everything from black metal to grindcore to crust punk has taken up residence there. But only one genre can call it home, and that is the double edged sword of melodic death metal. A genre that took extreme music into territories of effervescing grace and beauty, but also served as the template for the abomination known as metalcore. But this isn't the Iron Maiden worship found on albums like The Jester Race or Slaughter of the Soul. This is something much darker and foreboding. It's as if Entombed had a baby with early Norwegian black metal. The frantic structure, raw production, melodic interludes, and bleak atmosphere combine into a very strange and unique album.

Starting with the production. It sounds like a blend of what you'd hear on Leprosy, Soulside Journey, and Left Hand Path. Some tracks are very clear and cut through the mix (drums, vocals), while others get muffled underneath everything else (extra guitars, bass, violins), but this only enhances the quality of the album, as it adds to the overall atmosphere.

Tompa's vocals are raw as hell on this album, sounding more like Martin van Drunen than himself on the following albums. He uses a technique that sounds like a mix of yelling and shrieking, while being strangled. The guitar work is very strange. It almost borders on experimental on how it flows from chaotic and dissonant to melodic and graceful. The blend of death/thrash and black metal elements is almost dizzying. It's absolutely mind blowing how the band as a whole is able to hold down all the unconventional time signatures and tempo shifts. There's some sloppiness in Adrian's drumming, but on the whole his drumming works in the context of the album and adds to chaotic atmosphere. As I previously mentioned, the bass kind of takes a back seat, but still provides a nice bottom end to the whole.

The only drawback to this album is how some of the tracks blur together, but this is a small flaw as most of the album has enough variety to maintain my interest. If I had to pick standout songs I would choose Kingdom Gone, Within, Windows, Neverwhere, and The Scar. Kingdom Gone is a prime example of how blackened death metal should sound. Raw, gritty, and frantic, not overproduced and bland like newer Behemoth. Within is a ballad of a journey through the human psyche, starting off slow and ominous and picking up tempo with chaotic blast beats and frantic tremolo riffs and a few melodic touches towards the end. Windows has a very melodic intro, and then drops into straight death metal with some melodic fills throughout. Neverwhere is my all time favorite At the Gates track. All change ups are insane and are fairly memorable. The Scar is the most unique song, being devoid of any bass and drums, and instead of yelling/shrieking, Lindberg whispers the lyrics.

If you like death metal and early black metal, then this will definitely be your cup of tea. With elements from albums like Human, Leprosy, Left Hand Path, Clandestine, and Deathcrush, this is sure to please any old school fan.