Tomas Lindberg of Swedish melodic death metal pioneers AT THE GATES has died after a battle with cancer, his family has confirmed to Swedish public service television company SVT Nyheter. He was 52 years old.

Last month, Tomas's AT THE GATES bandmates announced that the singer was receiving "around-the-clock" care at an unspecified hospital after being diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC),a rare, slow-growing but aggressive cancer that typically develops in the salivary glands, particularly the minor salivary glands of the head and neck.

On August 15, AT THE GATES released a message from Tomas, written in March 2025, where he reflected on the previous 15 months and the reasons for the group's radio silence. In the message, Lindberg wrote: "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 palate) and have since then gone through a lot, it has been a very tough year. First there was a major surgery, where they took away a big part of the roof of the mouth. This was followed by radiation therapy for two months, and ever since it has been a long hard path towards recovery. Now, in the beginning of 2025, they have found some remains of the cancer, and it is inaccessible by surgery or radiation. So, we will see what the next step is, but probably some form of chemotherapy, to keep the cancer in check.

"Luckily, we recorded vocals for the demos for the new album before all of this happened. 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, just to make sure we HAD the album, so to speak. So the vocals were actually recorded BEFORE the rest of the album.... a bit different, but it felt good to have it done.

"We have now decided to not wait any longer to release this new album. We had first planned to wait with the release until we knew if/when I would be able to sing again, and we were able to support the release with shows. Now when everything about the future is a bit more unsure it feels good to deliver this album. It is an album that we all are very proud of, and it's the first time in 10 years that Jonas and I have worked together with Anders writing an album's worth of music. It is a bit more of a return to the 'roots', probably best described as a mix between the two last albums we did with Anders ('Slaughter Of The Soul' and 'At War With Reality'). Hope you all will enjoy it!

"Please respect that we don't want to make a big thing about all this, and that I won't be answering interviews concerning the cancer, the treatment or the recovery. We just wanted this to be out in the open, as we wanted to explain to our fans why we have been quiet for such a long time.

"I hope you all are well. Take care of yourself, your loved ones and the time you have on this earth."

According to Medical News Today, most people who develop ACC live for at least five years. However, most will also develop a recurrence of the cancer.

One study of 160 individuals with ACC found that the five-year survival rate was 89%, while the 15-year survival rate was 40%.

Back in October 2022, AT THE GATES announced that founding member and guitarist Anders Björler was returning to the band's lineup after a handful of years of absence.

In August 2022, AT THE GATES parted ways with its guitarist of the previous five years, Jonas Stålhammar.

Stålhammar joined the band in September 2017 as the replacement for Anders Björler, who left AT THE GATES in March of that year.

AT THE GATES' latest studio album, "The Nightmare Of Being", came out in 2021.

2018's "To Drink From The Night Itself" was the first AT THE GATES album written and recorded without Anders Björler.

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