Tomas Lindberg, lead singer of At The Gates, revealed this Friday, the 15th, that he is battling a rare cancer. The musician is receiving "24-hour" care at the hospital after being diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). This is a slow-growing but aggressive type of cancer that develops in the salivary glands of the head and neck.
The band posted a statement on social media to explain the band's situation:
“We want to take a moment to update you on what’s happening with At The Gates, and to do that, we need to take you back about a year and a half. Below, you’ll find a message from Tomas, written in March 2025, in which he reflects on the last 15 months and the reasons for the silence. However, in early May, Tomas suffered a health setback. Since then, he has been hospitalized and receiving dedicated care in a specialized ward, where he is closely monitored 24 hours a day.”
“Although this is a challenging time, we remain positive, but even in the best-case scenario, we know that recovery will take a long time. We kindly ask that you respect Tomas and his family’s privacy during this period. We know how much the band and music mean to him — Tomas is incredibly proud of the new At The Gates album we are working on, and we will try to give you more details about this upcoming release soon. Thank you for your continued support, patience, and understanding.”
Tomas Lindberg reveals his battle against cancer.
The lead singer wrote a statement in March 2025, however, the band only released it this Friday, August 15th:
“Hello everyone. I think some of you may be wondering why At The Gates has been so quiet lately. In December 2023, I was diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma (a cancer in the mouth and palate). And since then, I’ve been through a lot; it’s been a very difficult year. First, there was major surgery where they removed a large part of the roof of my mouth. This was followed by radiation therapy for two months, and since then it has been a long and arduous road to recovery. Now, in early 2025, they found some traces of the cancer, and it is inaccessible by surgery or radiation. So, we’ll see what the next step is, probably some form of chemotherapy, to keep the cancer under control.”
“Fortunately, we recorded the vocals for the new album demos before all this happened. The final version of the vocals, which will be on the album, was recorded in ONE day. Basically in a single take, ONE DAY before the surgery, just to make sure we HAD the album, so to speak. So, the vocals were recorded BEFORE the rest of the album, a little differently, but it was good to have done it.”
New album from At The Gates
Tomas Lindberg also revealed that the band will release a new album:
“We decided not to wait any longer to release this new album. Initially, we had planned to wait until we knew if/when I could sing again, and we were able to promote the release with shows. Now, when everything about the future is a little more uncertain, it feels good to release this album.”
Tomas also commented on the new work with Anders Björler , founding member and guitarist who returned to the band in 2022 after a few years' absence.
“It’s an album we’re all very proud of, and it’s the first time in 10 years that Jonas and I have worked together with Anders on an album with songs that are actually worthwhile. It’s more of a return to our ‘roots,’ probably best described as a mix of the last two albums we did with Anders ('Slaughter Of The Soul' and 'At War With Reality ' ). I hope everyone enjoys it!”
“Please respect the fact that we don’t want to make a fuss about all this and that I won’t be giving interviews about the cancer, the treatment, or the recovery. We just wanted to make that clear because we wanted to explain to our fans why we’ve been silent for so long. I hope everyone is well. Take care of yourselves, your loved ones, and the time you have on this Earth.”
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