Abbath left the stage during the first song at SaariHelvetti in Tampere on Friday. Organisers said the singer was unable to perform.
Abbath‘s set at SaariHelvetti in Tampere, Finland ended on Friday after roughly two minutes.
Footage from the festival shows the band opening with “To War!“, with Abbath Doom Occulta, real name Olve Eikemo, wearing neither corpsepaint nor the armour his bandmates had on. Partway through the song he puts his guitar down on the stage and walks off.
Drummer Ukri Suvilehto, who is Finnish, then addressed the audience. His remarks were reported by the Finnish magazine Inferno.
“Let’s just say that it probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone that our lead singer is struggling with health problems, so we’re very sorry if this gig has been interrupted,” he said reportedly. “But we, as solid professionals, are prepared for anything, so we’ll see. But thank you and sorry. We have done everything we can.”
The organisers later confirmed the performance had ended unexpectedly, saying Abbath were unable to continue “due to singer Abbath Doom Occulta‘s health problems.” Neither the band nor Eikemo has commented through their own channels.
The booking was announced in the spring and completed the Friday bill at the festival’s twelfth edition, held on Viikinsaari island across August 14 and 15 with more than 30 acts. Ensiferum, Kalmah, Havukruunu, Omnium Gatherum and Wolfheart also played on Friday.
It is not the first show of this kind. In November 2019 the band played two songs in Buenos Aires before the concert ended, with some ticket-holders afterwards asking for refunds. Abbath Doom Occulta performed that night with only bassist Mia Wallace and Suvilehto, after guitarist Ole André Farstad reportedly did not travel to the venue. Later that month Abbath Doom Occulta released a statement saying he had been dealing with addiction and was entering a rehabilitation programme to get clean “once and for all.”
Abbath Doom Occulta fronted Immortal from 1991 to 2003 and again from 2006 to 2015 before starting the band under his own name. Their most recent album, Dread Reaver, was released in March 2022 through Season Of Mist, and they have toured behind it since.
