At The Gates
The Red In The Sky Is Ours

Continuing the line from their debut EP, this time thinking about it, I don’t only think of the adjective gloomy, but also terse, fast, crazy, technical. This second step of the group appears like this, and it's a great starting point to get to know them, even if (tastes at hand) the subsequent works have been decidedly superior. Opinions here can easily be divided, because from many perspectives, a debut album like this contains indispensable elements never seen again in later works, which can rightfully be considered fundamental in giving this work the title of the band's best album. But objectively, they have done much better than what is played on this record because although the songwriting does not lack excellent ideas, it still focuses on a dark and predominantly technical death, without mincing words.

Compared to "Gardens Of Grief", you won't find sulfurous and grayed sounds here, but rather launched guitars, continuously evolving drumming with sudden tempo changes, and a rougher and higher-toned voice (horrible for my tastes), which is closer to the standard of the albums that will follow, but which gives a caveman character to the work. Compositional ideas are not lacking, and in grooves like "The Scar" made only of guitar and voice, sounding very calm for about a couple of minutes, you find what was later elaborated with great wisdom in subsequent albums in instrumental pieces such as "And The World Returned" and "Into The Dead Sky." In the end, it's possible to say that the whole thing is not so far from the line on which At The Gates later operated, but it is a less mature album, and moreover, the recording (not exactly hi-fi) does not highlight what is played.

It remains, in fact, an album with interesting characteristics that make it appealing to those who appreciate the genre, and it could divide the fans into two opposing factions, those in favor of the first era and those of the second: the difficult judgment is up to your ears.