''Terminal Spirit Disease'' is the third album by Swedish

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavine ...

band

At the Gates At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the Gat ...

. It was released in 1994 (see

1994 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994. Specific locations *1994 in British music *1994 in Norwegian music Specific genres *1994 in country music *1994 in heavy metal music *1994 in hip hop music *1994 ...

) and re-released in 2003 with bonus tracks. It is the first album to feature rhythm guitarist Martin Larsson who replaced Alf Svensson in 1993. The band originally had wanted to record an EP of new material, but their label had insisted on a full-length album. To compromise, the band added several live tracks to pad the overall length.

Background information

Guitarist Anders Björler commented that he couldn't "remember much" from the recording sessions for ''Terminal Spirit Disease''. When compared to at the Gates' older material, Björler felt the tracks "were simpler and more to the point". A violin and cello are featured on the song "And the World Returned", cited as an example of the group's attempt to explore "ideas which were a little different".

Reception

Reviews for ''Terminal Spirit Disease'' have been mostly positive.

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's Eduardo Rivadavia awards the album four out of five stars, and claims that, with this album, "At the Gates raised their creative stakes beyond most everyone's original expectations, and proved that what had once been a pretty standard and uninventive death metal combo was slowly becoming a true contender in the scene." In a retrospective review, Richard Street-Jammer of '' Invisible Oranges'' called the album "the last record before they became legends" and "a fetish for crummy metalcore."

Track listing

The

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reissue released in 2003 includes three additional live tracks from the 1993 live-in-studio session for

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Credits

Band members

Tomas Lindberg Tomas Lindberg (born 16 October 1972), also known as "Tompa" and "Goatspell", is a Swedish vocalist who has fronted many death metal bands, most notably At the Gates. He has been active as a musician and composer since the late 1980s. He also t ...

– vocals *

Anders Björler Anders Björler (born 26 February 1973) is a Swedish musician, composer and film director. He is best known as the guitar player in the metal bands The Haunted and At the Gates, alongside his bass-playing twin brother Jonas Björler. Björle ...

– guitar * Jonas Björler – bass * Adrian Erlandsson – drums * Martin Larsson – guitar

Guest members

*Peter Andersson – cello on "The Swarm" and "And the World Returned" *Ylva Wahlstedt – violin on "The Swarm" and "And the World Returned"

References

{{Authority control At the Gates albums 1994 albums Albums recorded at Studio Fredman Peaceville Records albums Albums produced by Fredrik Nordström