Swedish melodic Death Metal pioneers At The Gates will release their much anticipated new album, To Drink From The Night Itself on May 18 via Century Media Records.
Produced with Russ Russell (Napalm Death, The Haunted, Dimmu Borgir, etc.) at Parlour Studios in the UK, the album follows up 2014’s acclaimed comeback release At War With Reality and will feature conceptual artwork created by Costin Chioreanu / Twilight 13 Media, who already worked with At The Gates on At War With Reality.
At The Gates frontman Tomas Lindberg talks about the single: “So, for the first song to present to the public, we chose the title track of the album. Which is also the opening track of the record. To us, this gives a presentation of the attitude of the album: raw, hungry and desperate. It also gives an introduction to the whole concept of the record. We live through our art, and the whole album deals with the concept of art. Art as a tool either for revolution, or suppression. To drink from the night itself is just that, a metaphor for living and breathing through art. Of course the concept goes deeper than that, but this song is the heart of the concept, the fierce call to arms so to say. We are still at war, but this time we are fighting the abyss, the abyss of apathy and oppression. It is an aggressive song, but also contains a lot of the other elements of the band´s sound on this record. Melancholia, desperation and struggle. For the first video we chose to use Patric Ullaeus again, as he is good at capturing the raw energy of the band playing live. In the video you can also see glimpses of the art used for the cover, so it binds it all together nicely. Enjoy.”
He also talks about the album cover art: "It has once again been an absolute pleasure working creativily with Costin. We had a lot of ideas for what we wanted to get across with the art this time around. Overall they were, not surprisingly, related to the general concept of the record. What is great with Costin is that he understands the band. He knows what we are and where we come from. And me and him also have a strong artistic connection. I have never met anyone that goes so deep into the world of my lyrics and concepts. When I first wrote to him describing my ideas, I was worried that my remarks were perhaps too long and too confusing, only to get back an even longer and very inspired response…
The inspiration for the actual front cover piece is taken from the Pergamon Altar, on display at the Pergamon museum in Berlin. It is of course linked closely to the concept that the whole record is based upon, but more on that later. But I will throw a name out there, for the interested ones; Peter Weiss. I can't wait to get the whole record in my hands now, as this is just one of the many great artwork pieces that Costin has created for us on “To Drink From The Night Itself“..."
At The Gates frontman Tomas Lindberg comments on the track "A Stare Bound In Stone":
"For the second single release of the album we wanted this menacing stormer, fast aggressive verses, heavy chorus and an evil mantra of an ending. This, for me, depicts the desperate, urgent mood of the record. I think it could be one of the most aggressive songs we have ever written. This album is so diverse, and includes so much different elements that it is hard to boil down those essences to just one song. This song has a lot of them though, more to come soon. For the video-shoot we wanted to work with Costin on this one, as he is an essential part of this record. We felt that he knew exactly what kind of emotions we wanted to get across, and how to capture them artistically. I see this video as a brilliant complement to the song. Enjoy!"
Watch the video for title-track single, "To Drink From The Night Itself" below.
TO DRINK FROM THE NIGHT ITSELF TRACK LISTING:
1. Der Widerstand
2. To Drink From The Night Itself
3. A Stare Bound In Stone
4. Palace Of Lepers
5. Daggers Of Black Haze
6. The Chasm
7. In Nameless Sleep
8. The Colours Of The Beast
9. A Labyrinth Of Tombs
10. Seas Of Starvation
11. In Death They Shall Burn
12. The Mirror Black