Gates of Ishtar - At Dusk and Forever (1998)

Three years, three albums released, but by the time At Dusk and Forever dropped it became tearfully clear that Gates of Isthar might not erupt like I once thought they would, that they might become another drop in the bucket of melodeath history. This was still right in that timeframe where At the Gates had taken over the universe because of some nasty vocals, a great guitar tone and one of the best breakdowns since Reign in Blood, so these Swedes were perfectly poised to succeed in that wake. But something was happening...bands like Soilwork and Darkane were about to arrive and make it all much more interesting, whereas this band were still playing it pretty close to the hilt when emulating the Big Three of that scene, and interest just seemed to dwindle.

It's not the fault of At Dusk and Forever, because if anything, this one gives the band an energetic kick that takes them back to the orbit of the debut, a little less washed out than The Dawn of Flames. The old cover art for this one looks absolutely fucking horrible, and I don't even think it was meant for this album, with the logo and title font looking like shit. Who in their right minds at Invasion or within the ranks of the band thought this was anything but an eyesore? They had a great logo. Fortunately, the sound is a bit better, they weren't using Dan this time, but still managed to get what might be their best, most propulsive guitar tone, which seamlessly infused the force and heaviness of the riffing with the actual melodies they're threading through it. The bass is a bit grainier than before, the drums perhaps not the best mixed of their catalogue, but it still seemed brighter than the previous album, and the band was just ripping through these tracks like they were blowing their noses...in a good way.

Ultimately, it's my least favorite of their three albums, because it all seemed to blend together for me, and still does now. It's possible that I just became too overfed with this particular style, hearing so many dozens of bands forming melodies in such comparable patterns, and finding nothing to really push the envelope anywhere beyond what I'd expect. This is fiery as hell, perhaps their most passionate and desperate performance, sort of a foreshadowing for the style Dimension Zero would adopt, and I do like some of the leads here and riffs in general ("Battles to Come", etc), but the Swedes seemed a little stuck in time and unable to really progress themselves forward or sideways into any more curious pastures, so they remained for their entire career a meat & potatoes melodeath band on that fateful second tier. Granted, a pretty damn good one, worth the hype they once stood on...AND may stand on once more, because ladies and gentlemen, the Gates of Ishtar are open yet again, we'll have to see what strides boldly forth from them.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

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Gates of Ishtar - The Dawn of Flames (1997)

The one with the boobs flopping out. The Dawn of Flames arrived to me first as a promo when I was doing the paper zine thing back in the 90s, I don't believe it was the version where they had hooked up with German Invasion Records, but another licensed version. It was already a little surprising that Gates of Ishtar hadn't taken over the world in the year since their debut, and like that, I wasn't immediately smitten with what was on the album, but like A Bloodred Path, this is one that has aged well enough that it's become a backup when I'm seeking out bands in this mid-range melodeath genre, and I'm just not in the mood for my favorite bands of the form like Darkane, Soilwork or the 90s material from At the Gates and In Flames. 

The band hadn't really had a large amount of time to mature through their releases, but having said that, The Dawn of Flames is a little more laid back and seasoned, and even I dare say a little less intense. The band were settled into writing melodic songs with a clear heavy metal background, and wanted to go a little less pedal to the metal and instead branch out dynamically. So some of the rhythms in tracks like "Trail of Tears" might seem almost pedestrian by comparison, but they are still well-seeded with riffing ideas, patterns that attach right to any melodeath fan's ear-space, and even some guest synthesizers and pianos from one Dan Swanö, who also produced the disc. His mix here is a little more washed out, atmospheric, less straight to the grill than A Bloodred Path, but then I think that tends to suit the song selection here a little more, even if it might have felt disappointing to a few fans. When the material here does speed up ("Forever Scarred", "Dream Field", etc), it does feel like a direct extension of what they put out the years before, but there's enough of a minor difference to the sophomore that some 'growth' had been achieved.

As for myself, I slightly prefer the debut because I'm not entirely in love with the production to this, but for individual song quality they're on somewhat even ground. I like the cover for its color palette and mammary appreciation, but I don't think it fits the band's lyrics or concepts whatsoever. You'd see that and probably expect some barbaric heavy metal circa Manowar, Cirith Ungol or Holland's Goddess of Desire, but it's a little out of place with the introspective lyrics and melody here. Nitpicking though, because this is a solid if not wholly remarkable follow-up that I still value when I'm in the mood to wax nostalgic about all those underground 90s melodeath acts my friends and I used to follow.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

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Gates of Ishtar - A Bloodred Path (1996)

Of all the many second string melodic Swedish death and black metal bands, Invasion Records or adjacent that I've been writing about lately, Gates of Ishtar might have had the most subcultural penetration around me in the mid 90s. This was a band of hopefuls that most of my metal friends knew about, even those who weren't heavily versed in the underground; many picked up their CDs at the local shops, and some even venerated them on a similar level to Dark Tranquillity and In Flames. I'm not going to claim that they were as distinct as their peers, in fact I think why they ultimately folded, but it's clear from even listening to this debut that they were solid, professional songwriters who knew the right balance for that particular strain of melodic death metal before it had even fully imprinted on the metal universe.

A Bloodred Path still sounds tight in the modern age, with a roster that included Oskar Karlsson, who had drummed on a number of the Invasion and related acts, several in a similar style (like The Everdawn), and this was probably his most popular band. There was also the vocalist, Mikael Sandorf who would go on to continue this style with The Duskfall, which saw some success as well, but never quite struck me as impressively as this band once did. Essentially this is the band which had it all...intense drumming that seemed effortless, no end to the streams of melody they could tear out from their strings, a good mix of bass that stood itself out in places from the rhythm tracks, and a vocalist who was well versed in that At the Gates style of punchy syncopated snarling. Listening back on this debut today, it does suffer from that effect where the more Swedish melodeath I hear, the more exhausted I get with melodies that seem rather predictable, but 25 years ago this all felt much fresher, like these Swedes had resurrected the NWOBHM bands, sped up their melodies and harmonies, and cloaked them in a savage death metal influence which would keep them current and appealing to all the death metal, black metal and metalcore fans.

And this album is really damn consistent, so much that I wouldn't dare pick out particular songs over others, because they all strike at the same level of quality and emotion. They're not absolute earworms like you'd hear on The Jester Race, but they were close enough that you can understand why fans of some of the bigger Swedish acts in the niche would turn to this as an immediate backup. Fast, intricate, well plotted, there was no question that these guys were going to pull more attention, and thus no surprise when they finally did. While I wasn't as hot on them as the aforementioned friends of the day, A Bloodred Path definitely holds its own, has grown on me in time, and there's no way I can deny the level of talent they had in their midst.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

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