It must be quite rewarding for any label to see one of the bands in which they invested most of their time and energy turning into such an influential and pioneering outfit, as At The Gates were in the beginning of the 90's. The signs of this band's greatness were pretty clear even from the days of the "Gardens of Grief" EP, yet, just as with good quality wine, it took a slow maturing process before the loud Swedes were in the position to record one of the most important albums in modern extreme metal - an album that was quite rightfully given the name "Terminal Spirit Disease".

If my evaluation of the band's fourth offering was based simply on the immediate effect that these six melodic but equally aggressive compositions had on me, and without taking into consideration the nature of their previous releases, I would have still ended up loving this album just the same. On the other hand, only by looking back at the band's amazing progress during these four years am I capable of understanding what makes this album so special.

To me, it always felt like the members of At The Gates were on a constant search for a musical formula that would enable them to acquire their own unique sound. This formula, which was discovered and successfully applied in "Terminal Spirit Disease", combined the primitive energy of "The Red In The Sky is Ours" with the uncontrollable technical tendencies of "Terminal Spirit Disease". The result was the creation of a pretty straight forward, yet technically challenging, album where every song has it's individual strength, yet every single musical element has been added wisely, and with the overall interest of the album in mind.

That is the reason why I did not find it at all surprising how a song as melodic as "And The World Returned" fitted so well amongst colossal thrash opuses such as "The Swarm" and "Terminal Spirit Disease". Fredrik Nordstrom's contribution was essential in creating a powerful and aggressive sound, which gave more edge to the Bjorler brothers' riffs and added an extra dimension to Tomas Lindberg's trademark vocals. The only "negative" thing that I can think of regarding this release is that it should have contained at least a couple more studio songs. The doomy riffs of "The Forever Circle" were so easy to devour, and the same applied to the much faster melodic parts of "The Beautiful Wound", that, when the last tunes of the latter signified the end of this album, my sinful greed left me slightly disappointed. On the other hand, those three beautifully performed live tracks which accompany this release were quite enjoyable, and the same applied to the extra three live tracks that can be found on Peaceville's 2003 re-issue.

There is no doubt in my mind that "Terminal Spirit Disease" was not only the best album that At The Gates released while working with Peaceville records, but it is also one of the best modern extreme metal albums ever to see the light of day. It was its unique character and strength that made the band's early "departure" from the metal scene so very painful and totally inexplicable to me, even today as I am writing these words. Albums like this are like the beautiful moments in life - they are rare and should always be cherished!

*****

Review by John Stefanis