The time draws near. At War With Reality, the first At The Gates album in nearly twenty years, is soon upon us. As you may know by now, the album was recently finished and has a release date of October 27th this year, but what you DIDN’T know is the album artwork (pictured above) and the following details about the album, courtesy of vocalist Tomas Lindberg, guitarist and lead songwriter Anders Björler, and cover artist Costin Chioreanu.
Lindberg made comments about the album’s theme.
The concept of ‘At War with Reality’ is based on the literary genre called ‘Magic Realism’. The main style within this genre is the notion that ‘reality’ is ever-changing, and needs to be constantly re-discovered and re-conquered. We felt that Costin’s artwork style would be the perfect visual contribution to this album, so he became the natural choice…
While Björler added to Lindberg’s message.
I got in touch with Costin a few years back. I was immediately impressed with his dark and original style. He collaborated on some T-shirt designs for At The Gates as well as designing the album artwork for my Instrumental Project. We realized pretty early on that his style would accompany the music and the concept perfectly.
And Chioreanu himself had some words regarding the concept.
I have been waiting for this album for almost 20 years and it’s the biggest honor for me to illustrate it – As there is no greater achievement for a dreamer than the moment when the dream becomes reality. ‘At War With Reality’ is by far the most complex visual story I have ever created, from all points of view. From the very first moment the band presented the concept, I found it extremely stunning and at the same time super-challenging. I like to think that visual art and music are tools to explore our minds – to create, to discover and to push the limits. At The Gates, one of my all-time favorite Metal bands, offered me a chance to explore a new dimension.
We also have some song titles revealed! “Death And The Labyrinth”, “The Circular Ruins”, “The Conspiracy Of The Blind”, “Order From Chaos”, “Eater Of Gods” and “Upon Pillars Of Dust” will all be tracks from the album.
Again, At War With Reality is out October 27th. Get hype.
-KG