Review by illusionist for At the Gates - The Nightmare of Being (2021)

I love that At the Gates tried to push themselves here and make a stylistic leap comparable to the ones between some of their 90s albums. They definitely succeeded in breaking out of the formula of the last two records, which I didn't expect them to do at this point of their career.

The progressive elements and diverse song structures are exciting and make this a highly entertaining listen. For example, the saxophone solo on "Garden of Cyrus", the groovy drumbeat that takes center stage on "Cosmic Pessimism", and some of the brief subdued strings and jazz guitar moments throughout that allow the Melodeath riffs to breathe. I love all of this.

The drawback is that only a few of the tracks fully cross the threshold from intriguing ideas to being comprehensively exciting songs. For all of the admirable experimentation on this record, the most striking and memorable song is probably "The Paradox", the most by-the-numbers At the Gates track on here.

This record may continue to grow on me as I digest, but at the moment, I can't give it a further endorsement than "a worthwhile and interesting listen for those who have followed At the Gates' evolution up to this point".