We now embark on an occasion both triumphant and sad, as we have the first single from the upcoming At The Gates album. The song is called The Fever Mask and it hails from the album The Ghost of a Future Dead. The album releases on April 24. It marks the eighth studio album from At The Gates.

This song and album arrive on a tragic note, as singer Tomas Lindberg died in September 2025. He recorded his vocals for this record early on in late 2023 or early ’24, just before starting treatment for a rare form of cancer in his mouth that would require surgery on his jaw. His and At The Gates’ plans were to wait out Lindberg’s treatment and see if he would be able to return to performing, but sadly it was not to be.

In far less tragic news, the album also marks the recording return to the band of guitarist Anders Björler, a founding member who left in 2017 and returned in 2022.

The Fever Mask is a brief track, coming in at a hair over three minutes. A sort of music video was made for the song, it features mostly still photos of the band and pays special attention to the departed Lindberg. This does sound like a “right down the middle,” on the rails At The Gates song. The group had gone in some experimental directions on their prior two albums but have stated that the new album fits sonically with their immortal Slaughter of the Soul record and the reunion album At War With Reality.

Beyond the upcoming album release, we don’t know much about the future of At The Gates. Bassist Jonas Björler (twin brother of Anders) stated in an interview with Chaoszine (transcribed in part here on Blabbermouth.net), the band may do some shows to celebrate the life of Tomas Lindberg, but they are unsure of their path forward at this time.

At The Gates are one of my favorite bands and one of a very few I pre-order upon first offering without any hesitation, and it’s not like I needed any further prompting with the heavy air surrounding this release. With the way The Fever Mask sounds, I have no doubt this album will fit just fine alongside the other titans of metal found within the At The Gates discography, and that this final testament of Tomas Lindberg will serve his legacy well.