Tomas Lindberg, vocalist of Swedish melodic death metal outfit At The Gates, has died aged 52 after battling cancer.
Tomas Lindberg, vocalist for Swedish death metal icons At The Gates, has died at aged 52. Swedish news outlet SVT Nyheter confirmed the news after speaking with Lindberg’s family.
Lindberg revealed just last month that he had been battling adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer in the mouth. In May, he underwent treatment for a serious health setback. The band addressed his condition in the message written by Lindberg back in March, explaining the silence from At The Gates over the past year.
“Hello everyone. I guess some of you may have been wondering why it has been so silent on the At the Gates front lately. Well, in December 2023, I was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (a cancer in the mouth and pallet) and have since then gone through a lot, it has been a very tough year,” Lindberg wrote. He went on to detail major surgery, radiation therapy, and the discovery that some of the cancer remained. “So, we will see what the next step is, but probably some form of chemo therapy, to keep the cancer in check.”
Despite his illness, Lindberg had managed to record all the vocals for At The Gates’ next album before surgery. “The last version of the vocals, the ones that will end up on the album, were recorded in ONE day, mostly one takes, the DAY before the surgery,” he explained. The record will be the first in a decade written with Jonas Björler and Anders Björler alongside Lindberg, and the frontman described it as a return to the band’s roots.
At The Gates have not yet issued a public statement on Lindberg’s death.
Formed in Gothenburg in 1990, At The Gates are credited as architects of the melodic death metal sound. Their 1995 album Slaughter of the Soul is regarded as one of extreme metal’s most influential works and helped shape the genre’s direction for decades to come.
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