The Nightmare of Being
The Nightmare of Being is the seventh studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band At the Gates, released on 2 June 2021. It follows the band's 2007 reunion and continues that second chapter, coming after At War With Reality and To Drink From the Night Itself. The record stays rooted in the Gothenburg metal tradition, but it reaches further than before, taking in a wider range of styles and influences.
The lyrics draw on the writings of horror philosophers Thomas Ligotti and Eugene Thacker, giving the album a bleak, thoughtful backbone. It is also the last At the Gates record to feature guitarist Jonas Stålhammar, and the last released in Lindberg's lifetime before his death in 2025, which gives it a lasting place in the band's story.
The Nightmare of Being: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 45:40Tracklist
- 1Spectre of Extinction4:49
- 2The Paradox4:43
- 3The Nightmare of Being3:49
- 4Garden of Cyrus4:25
- 5Touched by the White Hands of Death4:09
- 6The Fall Into Time6:47
- 7Cult of Salvation4:24
- 8The Abstract Enthroned4:26
- 9Cosmic Pessimism4:31
- 10Eternal Winter of Reason3:37
- Produced by
- At the Gates, Jens Bogren
- Recorded at
- Welfare Sounds & Studio, Gothenburg, Studio Gröndal, Stockholm, Sonic Train Studio, Varberg, Fascination Street Studios, Örebro
- Labels
- Inmigrant Records, Century Media
- Length
- 45:40
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| German Albums | 2 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums | 3 |
| Swiss Albums | 12 |
| US Current Albums | 14 |
| Austrian Albums | 18 |
| Swedish Albums | 20 |
| Finnish Albums | 21 |
| US Album Sales | 28 |
| Dutch Albums | 77 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) | 84 |
All 11 charts
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) | 115 |
From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.
Released the same week
Also released on 2 June
Every year →
More from At the Gates
Full discography →
The best of 2021
All of 2021 →
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 2021-06-02; musicbrainz + wikidata 2021-07-02 (30 days apart, likely another territory)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 2 July 2021 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 2 June 2021 | |
| Wikidata | 2 July 2021 | |
| Deezer | 2 July 2021 | |
| US release | 2 July 2021 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 2 July 2021 | earliest UK or European date |
7 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 July 2021 | CO | Inmigrant Records | 194398649429 | original |
| 2 July 2021 | XW | Century Media | 886449024407 | original |
| 2 July 2021 | US | Century Media | 194398649429 | original |
| 2 July 2021 | DE | Century Media | 194398649214 | original |
| 2 July 2021 | XE | Century Media | 194398649429 | original |
| 2 July 2021 | XE | Century Media | 194398649320 | original |
| 2 July 2021 | US | Century Media | 194398771311 | original |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 3000x3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 3000×3000 | native: native 3000x3000 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |