Exclusive: Nightrage Chief Reflects on Deceased Friend Tomas Lindberg of At the Gates: ‘I Still Have Him in My Heart’
Nine months after his shockingly sudden death, tears are still being shed for Tomas Lindberg, frontman of massively influential Swedish metal band At the Gates. One of the most well-read, warmhearted and respected musicians in melodic death metal – regardless of country – his skills remain unparalleled and might not be bested for quite some time. In the months subsequent to his passing, metal icons who – like Lindberg – were instrumental in giving birth to MDM in Scandinavian have publicly professed their sadness over his loss.
The latest member of MDM royalty to join the chorus and sing the praises of Lindberg is Greece’s greatest contribution to melodic death metal: Marios Iliopoulos. He helped develop the subgenre during his nine years playing lead guitar for Exhumation, then developed even more acclaim for his subsequent band Nightrage, which he co-founded with Gus G of Firewind in the same year that Exhumation split: 2000.
Iliopoulos and Lindberg became friends and musical collaborators when the Greek musician relocated to Sweden, seeking out a larger community of MDM musicians and fans.
“I couldn’t find like-minded guys here in Greece back in the day,” Iliopoulos recalled in a Zoom session that took place Sunday. “So I [decided] to move to Sweden and find my luck. You can’t just stay where you are and think that everything’s going to work for you. You need to work hard – really hard. And that’s what I did. I feel like I [made] the right decision for me back in the day. I don’t know if Nightrage would have existed if I hadn’t done that, because I had high standards.”
Lindberg not only met those standards but surpassed them. He was equally exceptional in screaming his brains out as he was writing lyrics embedded with references to literary giants like Jorge Luis Borges. Lindberg was obsessed with not only Borges’ magical realism but also the philosophy of pessimism espoused by Eugene Thatcher.
Lindberg contributed his trademark screeching to Nightrage’s Sweet Vengeance (2003), Descent Into Chaos (2005), Vengeance Descending (2010) and Insidious (2011). “One of the best vocalists in melodic death metal ever,” Iliopoulos opined. “He had a very, very unique voice. An iconic voice, even.”
(It’s worth noting that Dark Tranquillity vocalist Mikael Stanne, legendary MDM producer Fredrik Nordström, In Flames founder Jesper Strömblad, In Flames vocalist Anders Fridén and many more revered metal musicians also gave Nightrage a boost both with their recordings and on tour.)
“Tomas actually was the singer on the first two [Nightrage] albums,” Iliopoulos pointed out. “Anders was the co-engineer on [Exhumation’s 1998 LP,] Dance Across the Past. Anders recorded the drums for us. … We used the old Studio Fredman, where At the Gates recorded [1995’s] Slaughter of the Soul and other iconic albums. Mikael Stanne also made a guest appearance on our second Nightrage album, [2005’s] Descendants of Chaos.
“But whereas Mikael was a guest vocalist, Tomas was almost an official member in the band, because we wrote songs and lyrics together on the first two albums.” Iliopoulos continued.
Segueing from a discussion about Lindberg the musician into a conversation about Lindberg the man, Iliopoulos added: “He was a great guy too. And real smart. And a real fan. And a rock star. It’s too bad that we lost Tomas and that he’s not here with us anymore. It’s very, very sad. But we have his songs and albums to remember him by.”
Iliopoulos admitted lamentably that “we lost contact with Tomas after he left the band. It was because we were living in different towns, different cities, different countries. But I still have him in my heart. And I will always cherish the good moments and the songs and the albums we did together.”
To get even better acquainted with Lindberg and his legacy, read reflections on the MDM master by Napalm Death bassist Shane Embury, Moonspell vocalist Fernando Ribeiro, and longtime Amon Amarth drummer and current Fimbul Winter member Fredrik Andersso.
If you’re looking for some levity after this tough read, check out this goofy post about the best melodic death metal albums ever.
Stay tuned for much more of the conversation between Iliopoulos and yours truly, in which the former teaches the latter the history of MDM in Greece.
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