Last year, we lost Tomas Lindberg at the age of 52. It fucking sucked, and it continues to suck. Lindberg was the frontman of At The Gates, the Swedish legends who pioneered the melodic death metal sound and did it better than anyone else who ever tried it. He also led great bands like Disfear and Skitsystem, and he was pretty unanimously known as one of the best guys out there in the underground metal world. Before his passing, Lindberg put a staggering amount of energy and purpose into recording one last At The Gates album, and that album is coming this spring.
A month before his death, Tomas Lindberg revealed his years-long battle with adenoid cystic carcinoma, an aggressive form of cancer. By the time he made that announcement, Lindberg had already had much of the roof of his mouth removed. The day before his surgery, he recorded most of the vocals for The Ghost Of A Future Dead, At The Gates’ new album. Imagine having that much purpose in your life — to put that much into doing something creative with your friends. It’s fucking me up.
In a press release, the band says that The Ghost Of A Future Dead is exactly the album that Lindberg wanted to make: “In accordance with Tomas’ wishes — including the album title, sound mix, track order, artwork, and overall presentation — ‘The Ghost Of A Future Dead remains true to form. It combines the ferocious energy and hard-hitting powerful melodies that is the essence of At The Gates. This album is Tomas’ legacy.” Patric Ullaeus put together the video for the searing single “The Fever Mask,” and it’s constructed as a tribute to Lindberg. Below, check out that video and the album’s tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 “The Fever Mask”
02 “The Dissonant Void”
03 “Det Oerhörda”
04 “A Ritual Of Waste”
05 “In Dark Distortion”
06 “Of Interstellar Death”
07 “Tomb Of Heaven”
08 “Parasitical Hive”
09 “The Unfathomable”
10 “The Phantom Gospel”
11 “Förgängligheten”
12 “Black Hole Emission”
The Ghost Of A Future Dead is out 4/24 on Century Media.
