Gates Of Ishtar, a melodic death metal act, was formed in late 1992 by Sandorf (formerly bassist for Archam Angel and concurrently drummer for Agroth), Johansson, guitarist Stefan Nilsson and bassist Harald Bergand. The latter member comes up with the band's name. Later the band would count two former Decortition members among its line-up. A demo called Seasons Of Frost is recorded which quickly garnered a deal with Finland's Spinefarm Records.
The debut was recorded at Finland's Tico Tico Studio. The band opens for Dark Tranquillity and At The Gates before seeing a complete line-up overhaul in its rhythm section.
The band recorded The Dawn Of Flames with Dan Swano at Unisound. Danjel Rshr became the band's new session bassist and Henrik returned on drums. The new rhythm section lasted for a short period however. Two guitarists left, Sandorf also took up the guitar and Karlsson returned. Sandorf later claimed to have also played on the earlier albums.
Hammerheart Records re-released the band's final two albums in 2001. The Dutch label had bought out the rights to many of Invasion Records' following the latter's bankruptcy. Gates Of Ishtar had called it a day after encountering many problems following Invasion Records' bankruptcy.