On August 15, At the Gates’ Tomas Lindberg announced that he’d been diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a form of oral cancer that attacks the mouth and pallet. He had been quietly battling this for nearly two years via surgery and radiation treatments. This week, Tomas lost his fight. He was 52 years old.
There will be time to process his legacy as vocalist, lyricist and frontman—you can be certain that he will be remembered as one of the greatest to ever do it in extreme metal history—but today we all feel the loss of the person. Few people had a stronger passion for music than Tomas. Starting with his teenage years as one of most active members of the Swedish death metal tape-trading scene, through his time devouring Decibel’s monthly issues, Tomas’ quest for new music was relentless.
He was a champion of new artists and often overlooked bands, always ready to share a record he was stoked about. He was always available to help us, too, whether flying from Sweden to participate in our 100th issue show in person or remotely recording an epic shout-out video during our pandemic-era 200th issue stream, Tomas was a part of our family, and by extension, yours as well. We send our hearts out to you, his wife, his children and his bandmates.
Rest well, Tompa. The red in the sky is yours.
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