AT THE GATES: Making Of 'To Drink From The Night Itself' Video

Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the official video for "To Drink From The Night Itself", the title track of the new album from Swedish melodic death metal pioneers AT THE GATES, can be seem below. The clip was directed by Patric Ullaeus, who has previously worked with IN FLAMES, ARCH ENEMY and DIMMU BORGIR, among others.

AT THE GATES frontman Tomas Lindberg comments: "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."

"To Drink From The Night Itself" will be released on May 18 via Century Media. Produced with Russ Russell (NAPALM DEATH, THE HAUNTED, DIMMU BORGIR) at Parlour Studios in the U.K., the follow-up 2014's "At War With Reality" will feature conceptual artwork created by Twilight 13 Media's Costin Chioreanu, who previously worked with AT THE GATES on the band's last disc.

Lindberg comments: "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."

"To Drink From The Night Itself" track listing:

01. Der Widerstand
02. To Drink From The Night Itself
03. A Stare Bound In Stone
04. Palace Of Lepers
05. Daggers Of Black Haze
06. The Chasm
07. In Nameless Sleep
08. The Colours Of The Beast
09. A Labyrinth Of Tombs
10. Seas Of Starvation
11. In Death They Shall Burn
12. The Mirror Black

Lindberg spoke to Decibel magazine about how the departure of longtime AT THE GATES guitarist and primary songwriter Anders Björler has affected the band's sound. "It is true that there is a big shift in the lineup," he said. "What you have to take into consideration is that Jonas Björler [bass] wrote 40 percent of both 'Slaughter Of The Soul' and 'At War With Reality'. Some people seem to forget this. They just assume that the lead guitarist is the sole songwriter. Jonas had to take a lot more responsibility this time around, but me and him have had a really great and creative time writing this album. There is a slight change of direction, maybe, but AT THE GATES fans shouldn't be worried — it is still an AT THE GATES record. If anything, it is heavier and more death metal than the last one."

Lindberg said that new AT THE GATES guitarist Jonas Stålhammar came into the band too late to be involved in the composing process for the new disc. "This one is basically Jonas [Björler] and me when it comes to the writing. All the guys have contributed in some way, but the main writing comes from Jonas and me. Most of the songs were already in the finishing stages when Jonas Stålhammar joined, so there wasn't much time for him to contribute, but we look forward to having him more involved next time around. Saying that, his solos will, of course, be written by himself."

AT THE GATES 2018 is (left to right in photo):

Adrian Erlandsson - Drums
Jonas Björler - Bass
Tomas Lindberg - Vocals
Jonas Stålhammar - Guitar
Martin Larsson - Guitar