Live Review: At The Gates, The Fevered, In Death

The big kahunas of the Gothenburg sound, At The Gates, have finally deigned our little island nation with a leg of the reunion tour that started back in 2007 and, from the moment doors open, there's a palpable anticipation in The Hi-Fi's main room. But first the crowd is treated to a batch of support acts who remind just how damned influential At The Gates really are. A decade-and-a half-on from their initial run, strains of the Swedish band can be heard in both of tonight's local supports.

Presumably aided by repeated listens to At The Gates' Peaceville records, In Death cram a host of burly, hooky riffs through The Hi-Fi's PA. The local crew match the sonic intensity of their guitars with a rhythm section that is powerful and tight enough to get heads up the front banging.

Where In Death evidently draw influence from At The Gates' earlier records, The Fevered seem to be ardent disciples of 1995's Slaughter Of The Soul. Tonight the five-piece's set is a thrashy, melodic barnburner. Dealing with – and overcoming – a muddy mix, The Fevered work through When It Comes and other cuts from their Blackout EP, their technical proficiency and songwriting chops an ideal homage to the genre progenitors.

Then the supports are done with, and the crowd is fully cognisant of just how important the band they're about to witness are, so The Hi-Fi's curtain parts and At The Gates receive a hero's welcome. When they start playing their set, heavy on Slaughter Of The Soul material, At the Gates feel like the band that you've spent the last 15 years bedroom slamdancing to. The riffs, Tomas Lindberg's vocals that damn near set the blueprint for modern-day metal screams, the chemistry of the Björler brothers – it's all on display tonight. These guys still have it. The energy the five old guys bring to the stage is blistering. The searing vitriol of earlier numbers like Raped By The Light Of Christ and Kingdom Gone hits with staggering force. The five-piece present cut after cut, stopping only momentarily to allow Lindberg a chance to catch his breath and let the crowd know that the next one will be “an old one”. In this flurry of Slaughter… tunes, it feels that At The Gates are delivering the perfect show for longtime fans.

This is the first time At The Gates have been through Australia, but when it's being reported that they 'haven't ruled out' doing a new record, hopefully it is not be the last. If At The Gates ever did return to Australia, tonight's crowd would eagerly snap up the tickets and do it all again.