After riding the coattails of their local heroes Entombed for the first half of the 1990s, Gothenburg, Sweden's groovy At the Gates hit full racing power in 1995. For a brief while, the Slaughter of the Soul release almost single-handedly supported the flagging death metal scene, ushering in a second wave of metal energy that lives today in bands like the Haunted, which features ex-members of At the Gates. While respectful of the religious intensity of labelmates Morbid Angel and Carcass, At the Gates was a slightly more domesticated beast. Weaving melodic textures into its assault, the band slowed its tempo to something less diabolical, winning over large audiences who craved metallic intensity but were turned off by the Satanism and blood worship of the outfit's contemporaries. Sadly, the band broke up in 1996, but its deeply infused union of death metal, melody, and boogie remain distinctive several years later, even overshadowing the sparser but similar efforts by the Haunted. Six bonus tracks on this reissue of Slaughter of the Soul--including frantic 1995 demo tracks and cover songs from Slaughter Lord and Slayer--sweeten the pot while presenting At the Gates at its pinnacle. --Ian Christe