Review by Ben for At the Gates - With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness (1993)

I love Slaughter of the Soul as much as the next guy, but At the Gates' earlier work doesn't really do much for me. In fact, I find this album to be infuriating at times. It's so disjointed and chaotic, with nothing to hold onto at any stage. Every time I think I've finally found a great riff, it's replaced by a dodgy one seconds later, never to reappear. It's a shame too and there really are some great riffs on here and the drumming is quite good. But it really doesn't matter to me how brilliant musicians may or may not be if they cannot write a good track to save their lives. It's obvious to me that these guys thought that placing 500 riffs together, with Tomas screaming over the top would make an amazing album. Well, it didn't! It made a frustrating, forgettable album that contains a whole heap of wasted promise.

It just goes to show that sometimes simplicity is best. The band would eventually figure this out just in time to write one masterpiece.