The Swedish melodic death metal band that released Slaughter of the Soul in 1995 was At the Gates. The album was the group’s fourth studio release and became a defining record of the Gothenburg sound.
At the Gates formed in Gothenburg in 1990, a city whose metal scene also produced influential bands such as In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. On Slaughter of the Soul, the band combined aggressive death metal vocals and riffing with tightly arranged, harmonized guitar melodies.
The album was recorded at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg with producer Fredrik Nordström and released by Earache Records on November 14, 1995. Songs including “Blinded by Fear,” “Slaughter of the Soul,” and “Cold” helped make the record a major influence on later melodic death metal and metalcore musicians.
A common mix-up is associating the album with the other major Gothenburg bands. In Flames and Dark Tranquillity were central to the same scene, but Slaughter of the Soul is specifically an At the Gates album. It was also the band’s final album before their initial breakup in 1996.