German deathers Deserted Fear recently wrapped up a killer European tour alongside the mighty Niflheim and Swedish melodeath pioneers At The Gates.
The tour was a dream come true for the old school death metal devotees as, understandably, At The Gates provided a solid grounding for their metal education during their youth (if you missed them this time around, scroll down for At The Gates tour dates).
"At the time when we started listening to metal and Deserted Fear was born, At The Gates was still dead but nevertheless we had the dream to tour with them one day," the band explain.
"We are sure that we speak for a lot guitarists, drummers and vocalists when we say that these musicians are idols and their records are masterpieces!"
To celebrate this monumental feat of touring with their heroes, we asked the lads to pick their very favourite At The Gates tracks, from their entire discography. Here's what they had to say...
10. At War With Reality
"What a comeback after such a long period! Getting a record done without simply copying the old stuff but to keep the unique style is a masterpiece! Thomas Lindberg's vocals are pretty unique to me when it comes to death metal - kind of smoky and aggressive but never guttural, you'll know it when you hear it. The groove of the pre-chorus and the epic melodies in the chorus kill everything!"
9. Kingdom (Fucking) Gone
"The sound on this one was too rancid to me for many, many years. As newbie-death metal head I was no big fan of the album in total but now I can understand the record. The blunt force, the filthy sound - that's 90s death metal as it should be.
8. Blinded By Fear
"You hear the intro and you know that shits gonna hit the fan! This is THE song everybody thinks about in the first place when you speak about At The Gates - over-awesomness 100!
"I think that pretty much every death metal band at least once tried to cover this song (or did the cover) but pretty much none of this cover-versions has the drive of the original song."
7. To Drink From The Night Itself
"New school classic! This song marks the opening of every show and unloads tons of energy into the crowd which is going nuts since tune one. Breathtaking how a band is able to prove its high standards after all these years. If you hear the song for the first time you will recognize it as At The Gates song immediately."
6. Cold
"Simon totally inhaled the fast forward drum style of Adrian Erlandson - pounding the snare drum into dust! The guitars, especially the clean part in the middle, followed by the twin guitar solo are one of its kind and still top notch. The part when only bass, drums and vocals are on kills it every time - sick!"
5. The Flames Of The End
"So beautiful - unbelievable how this song still gives me chills. I had tears in my eyes after I heard the song for the first time during the At The Gates soundcheck on this tour.
"Genius sound composition and arrangements - I really hope that the At The Gates guys will play the song at least once on this tour."
4. Under A Serpent Sun
"The first death metal riff I was able to play on guitar. Well.. not the whole song - just the beginning to be honest, the rest was to complicated for me at this time hahahaha.
"Speaking of being honest: the first Deserted Fear song was some kind of Under A Serpent Sun clone but we never released it and it even had no real name."
3. Into The Dead Sky
"I had Slaughter of the Soul spinning all day - listening to the album over and over again in my old portable CD-player. Every time I drove around on my little motorcycle the thing used to skip songs on its own as the streets where full of bumps. This was kinda sad, especially when it comes to the classic and emotional interlude, which is so smooth I could play it in front of my grandmother."
2. Terminal Spirit Disease
"The title track of this record – a real headbanger! Thomas did awesome, rancid vocals on this one. The rhytm and the groovy part and the middle where my starting point when it comes to melodic death metal! The positive vibe within all this brutality got me hooked up."
1. And The World Returned
My all time fave of AT THE GATES is "And the World Returned". It reminds me of my youth, driving with my Ford Fiesta 1.1l through the city of Eisenberg, Germany. The duality of acoustic guitars and classic instruments is pure gold.
At The Gates Tour Dates 2020
Feb 02: Sundsvall, Club Destroyer SE
Feb 08: Turku/Stockholm/Turku, Nordic Metal Cruise FI/SE
Mar 29: Tokyo, Download Japan JP
May 21-23: Resort Zuiddrenthe / Erica Pitfest NL
Jun 14: Punchestown Racecourse, Sunstroke Festival IR
Jun 06. Clisson, Hellfest FR
Jun 25-27: Madrid, Rock The Night Fest ES
Jul 01-04: Ballenstedt, Rock Harz Festival DE
Jul 09-11: Gävle, Gefle Metal Festival SE
Jul 30-Aug 01: Wacken, Wacken Open Air DE
Aug 29: Warsaw , Metal Mania Open Air PL
