The lyrics, here commented by guitarist Anders Björler, were all written by vocalist Tomas 'Tompa' Lindberg. They appear to be clever, well-studied, meaningful and also pessimistic. The majority of them deal with social issues, detaching themselves from the traditional Death Metal themes. Here they are in detail:

* the birth of demons from the purgatory come to spread terror and incinerate the Earth
* getting rid of individuality, borders, models and lies to be free (the inspiration came from the dark-humoured "The Dice" by Luke Rhinehart)
* the will of misanthropy and to clean the planet (inspired by the flick "Menace II Society")
* destruction and death of the weaker and unfit (influenced by Aleister Crowley's ideas)
* the idea that chemical drugs can alter mind and make people face problems more sanely
* Sweden, the second country in Western Europe in the ranking for highest number of suicides (inspired by the flick "Reservoir Dogs", from which they've taken the intro for the song)
* lies, lack of joy, torment, a desire to be released forever
* the opposition to join any major religion
* nausea caused by machineries, barcodes and mental degeneration (inspired by the great mind of Charles Bukowski, who foresaw all that is happening in these dark times, the 2020's, a handful of decades ago)
* feeling disillusioned, fed up and suicidal
* the greatest evil of all: mankind

The 34 minutes of the original album are started by Industrial humming and rattling, and later on by repetitive robotic synthetic noises, followed by a voice denouncing our inner blindness. These 32 seconds constitute a hidden intro to the opener "Blinded by Fear", the last song this line-up wrote together and even very quickly unlike the other compositions.
A fast and obsessive riff showcases how the 6-heavy-stringed Ibanez guitar parts are in B-tuning and can boast a top-notch guitar tone that will continue for the whole platter. The guitarists are helped by semi-Black Metal, darker and more intense Hardcore screaming alternated with the refrain vocals, in a way that might remind Mille Petrozza's recent style.
A melodious diabolical part comes before a guitar solo, closed by the two riffs related to the initial verses tag-teaming until the electrical interference noise met at the beginning reappers at the end of the song. Such a masterpiece has been prized with an accompanying official video, the only one for this album, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCtjAmtIGf0 It was shot in a building which is now the Marriott Hotel County Hall in central London. Everything about this album including the video was 10 years ahead of its time.

After stopped cymbal work, the title track's main riff centres the concept of Gothenburg Death Metal entirely, encarving a memorable refrain and adding melody in mid-tempo galore. One of the founding concepts behind most songs on "Slaughter of the Soul" is no need for long solos, but this track is an exception, utilizing an articulate solo which displays several facades and variations on the theme. A palm-muted riff before the final fugue which recurs to the initial riffs as per the usual scheme and two tom beats to confirm the abrupt stop.

After a contrast between controlled drumming and stopped guitars, you'll find there's more suffering and darkness in the pillaring riff of the second guitar of "Cold", whereas the powerful drums in the melodic structure creating tension while anticipating the gorgeous vibrating axe solo by guest neoclassical shredder Andy LaRocque are the peak of the song. The contrast is repeated and then the other instruments return in a traditional way for At The Gates, making way for squealing guitar sounds leading to the collapse of the track.

A 4/4, low, muscular riff later in diminished scale and tremolo picking opens "Under A Serpent Sun", always with melody steadily present in the background; the number is accompanied by a description of Anders' guitar sound construction. The melody is alternated with the low-tuned riff until a Black Metal scream arrives, ensued by scorching vocals. A Hardcore riff breakdown changes everything, replaced by a Melodeath part, as well as by rhythmic variations which continue with the refrain. Tight or tuneful riffs steal the spotlight to each other, and then, all of a sudden, an interruption formed by an arpeggiated slightly distorted guitar and a declamatory voice are placed before the return of Tomas' voice. His vocals are once again rasped after he has abandoned the Death Metal growl of the old records, and the comeback of the drums. The remaining instruments reappear later, reinforced by a final scream, while the closure is entrusted to the steroid-pumped beginning riff.

"Into the Dead Sky" is a proof of the Swedish five-piece's versatility: an acoustic arpeggio is matched by a semi-distorted second guitar and bass for a short while. Later on, some tracks of an effected guitar in mono and stereo are added, until the conclusive fading out of this instrumental piece is reached slowly. A few phaser drums of absolute beauty and elegance increase the enchanted aura that only Scandinavians are able to create when they play acoustic.

Introduced by the popular gun cocking, courtesy of "Reservoir Dogs", "Suicide Nation" kicks off with a crushing riff alà Konkhra; afterwards, a tom-tom roll precedes taut open Thrash Metal riffs in chromatic scales as well as Melodeath ones, again played in turn. There appear two slowdowns in the middle part, a slow guitar opposed to a fast blastbeat, and then an acceleration of pounding drums, concluded by the riff in the opening after a guitar solo, first slow, then fast paced during its climax. The riff and the refrain are played once again without mercy with the addition of distant echoed in the finale. Interesting to notice that the scream 'Suicide' repeated four times between 2:05 and 2:10 was not worked artificially by the producer. Instead, he had Tompa scream from 4 places at different distances from the microphone careful not to make any step noises that might have been recorded while running shoeless from one position to the following one.

Influenced by Stoner Doom Rock acts such as The Obsessed and Trouble, "World of Lies" recurs to tribal drumming at the beginning. Before the several blastbeats, mighty and dynamic riffs pop in, flavoured by nice bass lines. They never let the listener time to breathe, even though one of the two is groovier than the other massive one, constantly in company with Tompa's crow-like vocals. After having played the said riffs one more time, there's time for a brief guitar lick matched by spoken words on a radio substituted by the refrain and an unsophisticated guitar solo.

The fight between different tempos and patterns with or without catchy melodies goes on in "Unto Others". Yet, when the melodious part enters, it's evident that its catchiness in the lead guitar is unbelievable. In the moment an acoustic guitar comes in arpeggioeing, Tompa keeps on massacring us with his rasping vocal emissions. The good thing is that he's capable of delivering them and keeping high intelligibility, which is always a bonus feature. When the arpeggio is over, the assault begins back, adding a trilling riff a few seconds later, just before the final verse used to close the track.

"Nausea" wins the title for most wicked song of the album hands down with its classical Swedish Death Metal riff, decidedly more powerful and demolishing than the others. This composition also includes two guitar solos, the best of the record without counting LaRoque's, before the reprise of the initial riff. I consider this one of the 3 highlights, along with the opener and "Into the Dead Sky".

Fulminating and short, "Need" contains a Nordic riff and more dynamism than the other tracks. The drumwork is a tad more intense than before and prepares us for a horrorific ending made of keyboards and creepy whispers. Here's where the inspirations for acts like Fractured Spine was born from.

The closer "The Flames of the End" is a disquieting instrumental based on symphonic sad keyboard touches, drum machine pulsations, guitars as sharp as razors or screeching in feedback on the path of certain Napalm Death tracks appeared on singles, still with a plainly personal style. It's the only At The Gates track with keys and a drum machine, and the reason is that it was originally a soundtrack for one of Anders' no budget horror movies, "Day of Blood". This track is intentionally contrasting the clinical performance of the rest of the record.

The first bonus track, "Legion" is a Slaughter Lord cover that makes me think of a jam between Carcass, Illdisposed and Slayer. A tribute to old Death Metal, it is extremely well-carried out and fun, plus it gives some exposure to that Australian Black/Death/Thrash metal act that very few remember today.

"The Dying" is the only unreleased track from the "Slaughter of the Soul" sessions. First you meet glacial synths in the vein of Fear Factory, then it turns atmospherical, later on it becomes cruel and punishing. The mid-tempo is followed by the nth guitar solo, next is a break, some Thrash Metal galloping, and palm-muted riff, all alternated. I don't feel it as an inferior or too diverse a track that wouldn't tie with the others, I would definitely have seen it well on the album, all the more reason considering that they have decided to include a tune like "The Flames of the End" in the original album. Pity for those who miss this track...

The Slayer cover "Captor of Sin" maybe has too many bass sounds. It's so violent and unstoppable that it convinces me under every point of view.

With the '95 demo version of "Unto Others" the sounds become more 'demo' and the speed is higher, but the song remains pleasant to the ears thanks to its Black Metal ferociousness in the vocals dyed with a Thrash Metal feeling due to a different tuning, even during a brief weird arpeggio.

The '95 demo version of "Suicide Nation" is a bit rawer than the final version, yet faithful enough, solo included. An uncontaminated unedited Black/Thrash gem for At The Gates collectors where Tompa screams at the top of his lungs. Marvellous! I think someone from the European record company that refused to sign At The Gates when they sent them their demo back then should step down in shame.

"Bister Verklighet" is a No Security cover, a rousing Punk/Metal splinter read by At The Gates their manner with no effort, avoiding to sound trivial or boring. It's the only song in Swedish ever played by the band and it was played by At The Gates for the first time in a club just before its definitive closure.

Although some people see this full-lenght as a macho record full of similar tracks suitable as background music for lifting weights, "Slaughter of the Soul" is instead a collection of songs sharper and shorter than the ones recorded for the previous three albums, uncluttered to the bone. There's not much Death Metal, there's some Thrash Metal galloping, blackened shrieks, Maidenesque melodies and harmonies of first level, a bunch of triplet drum fills. It is well thought, executed and recorded that it's comprehensible why it was defined as a game-changer that 'took it up a notch' back in the day. Unlike what somebody says, it is hard to play at full speed if you're not a trained guitarist, and that places it even higher in comparison with the competition.
Tompa's still great nowadays, but his pitch is deeper and can't reach those piercing highs any longer. Here you get one of the best line-ups at the top of its shape and inspiration.