Slaughter of the Soul
Encyclopedia
Slaughter of the Soul is the fourth and final studio album
by Swedish
melodic death metal
band At the Gates
before their reunion in 2011. It is considered a genre classic by many fans, and was largely responsible (along with The Jester Race
by In Flames
and The Gallery
by Dark Tranquillity
) for establishing the Gothenburg
scene. The album is considered a landmark in melodic death metal.
Bonus audio tracks
2006 Bonus DVD
, Poland
on December 30, 1995.
2008 Bonus DVD
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
melodic death metal
Melodic death metal
Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
band At the Gates
At the Gates
At the Gates is an extreme metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden, and a major progenitor of the Gothenburg death-metal sound. Their early albums lean towards a death metal sound, but later albums sound more like melodic death metal.Initially active from 1990 to 1996, the band reformed in 2007 for a...
before their reunion in 2011. It is considered a genre classic by many fans, and was largely responsible (along with The Jester Race
The Jester Race
The Jester Race is the second album by melodic death metal band In Flames. It is the first album to feature Anders Fridén as the band's vocalist and Björn Gelotte as the drummer. A video for the song "Artifacts of the Black Rain" was also released...
by In Flames
In Flames
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. Since the band's inception in 1993, they have released ten studio albums and one live DVD...
and The Gallery
The Gallery (album)
The Gallery is the second full-length studio album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Dark Tranquillity, released on November 27, 1995. It was the first full-length release to feature Mikael Stanne on lead vocals, while passing down his position of guitarist to Fredrik Johansson...
by Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity
Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are one of the longest-standing bands from the original Gothenburg metal scene, and are one of the most integral pioneers of the melodic death metal genre of music....
) for establishing the Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
scene. The album is considered a landmark in melodic death metal.
Releases and re-issues
There were many versions of Slaughter of the Soul issued throughout the years. While most were simply re-pressings or slight variations of the original, there were three major and distinct re-issue/re-releases, aside from the 1995 original.Track listing
Re-issue (2002)
Contains 11 tracks from the original 1995 release of Slaughter of the Soul, plus 6 bonus audio tracks. Three of the bonus tracks were cover songs, two were demo tracks, and 1 was a previously unreleased track, recorded during the Slaughter of the Soul sessions.Bonus audio tracks
Re-issue (2006)
Contained everything from the 2002 re-issue, but also included an additional bonus DVD, which featured a 35-minute behind-the-scenes documentary as the highlight.2006 Bonus DVD
- "Making of Slaughter of the Soul" featurette
- Deleted Scenes
- Music video: "Blinded by Fear"
Re-issue (2008)
Contains everything from the 2002 and 2006 re-releases (all audio and DVD material), as well as additional DVD footage—an eight song live set, recorded in KrakowKraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
on December 30, 1995.
2008 Bonus DVD
- Live from Krakow, Poland
- "Making of Slaughter of the Soul" featurette
- Deleted Scenes
- Music video: "Blinded by Fear"
Musical appearances
Tracks from the album have made appearances in several video games.- "Blinded by Fear" was made available as downloadable content for the Rock Band video game series on March 28, 2008. Later, it was included in the game's retail "Metal Track Pack" add-on content disc, released on September 22, 2009 in North America. The song is considered one of the most difficult songs in the series to perform on drums, due to its fast tempo.
- The title track is featured in both Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and DamnedGrand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and DamnedGrand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned is the first of two episodic expansion packs developed for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC versions of Grand Theft Auto IV, developed by Rockstar North. It was first released for the Xbox 360 on 17 February 2009 and on PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows...
and Tony Hawk's Proving GroundTony Hawk's Proving GroundTony Hawk's Proving Ground is a video game developed by Neversoft for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles; by Page 44 Studios for the PlayStation 2 and Wii; and by Vicarious Visions for the Nintendo DS...
.
Credits
- Tomas LindbergTomas LindbergTomas "Tompa" Lindberg is a Swedish musician who has fronted many heavy metal bands. He has been active as a musician and composer since the late 1980s. He teaches at a high school.-Career:...
− vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Anders BjörlerAnders BjörlerAnders Björler is a musician from Sweden. He is the current lead guitarist for heavy metal bands The Haunted and the well-known melodic death metal band At the Gates. He joined them in his former position on a reunion tour in 2007...
− guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Jonas BjörlerJonas BjörlerJonas Björler is the bassist and one of the founding members of the melodic death metal band At the Gates, along with his twin brother Anders Björler, Tomas Lindberg, Alf Svensson, and Adrian Erlandsson....
− bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Adrian ErlandssonAdrian ErlandssonAdrian Erlandsson is a prolific Swedish heavy metal drummer, who currently plays in Brujeria, Netherbird, with his wife in Nemhain and in Yorkshire doom metal band Paradise Lost...
− drums - Martin LarssonMartin Larsson (guitarist)Martin Larsson is a Swedish heavy metal guitarist. He initially played in House of Usher from 1990 to 1993. After the band split up, he joined At the Gates, and was their guitarist until they broke up in 1996, and again when they reunited in 2007....
− guitar
Production
- At the GatesAt the GatesAt the Gates is an extreme metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden, and a major progenitor of the Gothenburg death-metal sound. Their early albums lean towards a death metal sound, but later albums sound more like melodic death metal.Initially active from 1990 to 1996, the band reformed in 2007 for a...
and Fredrik NordströmFredrik NordströmBjörn Tom Fredrik Nordström, born on 5 January 1967, is a Swedish record producer and guitar player for the heavy metal band Dream Evil. Nordström is one of the leading melodic death metal producers in Sweden, and he has worked with some of the genre's top acts, including At the Gates, Arch Enemy,...
− production - Noel Summerville − masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
Other
- Kristian WåhlinKristian WåhlinKristian Wåhlin is a Swedish musician, graphic designer, and album cover artist for many bands in the extreme metal scene worldwide. He is often credited under his pseudonym, Necrolord....
− artworkAlbum coverAn album cover is the front of the packaging of a commercially released audio recording product, or album. The term can refer to either the printed cardboard covers typically used to package sets of 10" and 12" 78 rpm records, single and sets of 12" LPs, sets of 45 rpm records , or the front-facing...
, design, photography - Björn Mankner − photography