Swedish metal veterans and metalcore blueprinters At the Gates have parted ways with founding guitarist Anders Björler. In better news, At the Gates plan to begin recording a new album in early 2018.

Anders Björler has spent the last 27 years (on and off) as a member of At the Gates, helping define metalcore’s gold standard with 1995’s Slaughter of the Soul. The band chose to separate itself from the current core scene with 2014’s At War With Reality, which hones a melodic death metal sound. In any case, Björler was a damn powerhouse for At the Gates, so we thank him deeply for his many contributions.

At the Gates announced the news in a Facebook post today (March 8):

In the statement, Anders offers a quote of his own:

Just a quick note to let everybody know that I am leaving At The Gates permanently.
The passion is just gone. There might be a more lengthy statement in the future, but at the moment I feel no need to explain further.
This is a personal decision, and it has 100% to do with the music side of things.
The reunion in 2008, and the subsequent tours, as well as the comeback album ’AT WAR WITH REALITY’, really helped revisiting our friendship, and it brought us together in a way I will always remember and cherish.
I would also like to thank all the people that supported us throughout the reunion shows as well as the ’AT WAR WITH REALITY’ album.
Thanks a lot!

At the Gates add, “The four of us still has the burning urge to create death metal together, and we love playing live in front of our fans, so we will go on, with an even stronger intent. While writing the new record, that we intend to record in the beginning of 2018, we are trying out Anders' replacement. Some auditions are being held as we speak, and we will get back to you with news on the matter as soon as we know more.”

Stay tuned to Loudwire for all your At the Gates updates on their upcoming sixth studio album.

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