At The Gates drummer Adrian Erlandsson has opened up about the emotional difficulty of listening to the band’s upcoming studio album, The Ghost Of A Future Dead, in the wake of frontman Tomas Lindberg‘s passing.
During an interview with Metal Hammer, the 55-year-old musician explained that he actively avoided playing the record, which was fully completed over a year ago, until shortly before the vocalist’s death. Tomas Lindberg passed away last September at the age of 52 after a battle with cancer.
“I can’t actually speak about the lyrics, to be honest, [because] I haven’t read the lyrics,” Erlandsson stated. “With all the stuff surrounding this album with [Lindberg’s] illness and then eventually passing, for a long time, I had a hard time listening to it. It was just recently, since just before he passed, that I started to listen to it again.”
Despite the heavy circumstances surrounding the new material, the drummer expressed that he is anticipating the opportunity to finally read the late frontman’s words alongside the final tracks.
“As far as the lyrics go, I always enjoy, when I get the album, to sit down with the lyrics and listen. You make an opinion about what you think he’s singing when you just listen to it without the lyric sheet, and then you see the lyrics [and go], ‘Oh, that’s what he’s singing!’ That’s cool.”
Tomas Lindberg, who co-founded the pioneering Gothenburg death metal outfit At The Gates in 1990, was diagnosed with adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare cancer affecting the mouth and palate, in December 2023. He began treatment in early 2024, though the public was not informed of his condition until August 2025. Following an initial surgery that appeared successful, the disease returned in 2025. He was readmitted to the hospital and passed away on September 16 due to complications during his recovery.
The Ghost Of A Future Dead is scheduled for release on Friday, April 24, through Century Media. The vocal performances featured on the album were sourced from demo recordings Tomas Lindberg laid down immediately prior to his 2024 surgery, while the instrumental tracking was completed later that year. The late vocalist conceptualized the album’s title after beginning his treatments and gave his final approval on the artwork and tracklisting prior to his death.
The Ghost Of A Future Dead track listing:
- “The Fever Mask“
- “The Dissonant Void“
- “Det Oerhörda“
- “A Ritual Of Waste“
- “In Dark Distortion“
- “Of Interstellar Death“
- “Tomb Of Heaven“
- “Parasitical Hive“
- “The Unfathomable“
- “The Phantom Gospel“
- “Förgängligheten“
- “Black Hole Emission“
