Swedish death metal band At the Gates has lost their vocalist, Tomas Lindberg. He passed away on September 16th at age 52, as reported by SVT.

Lindberg had a cancer of the mouth known as adenoid cystic carcinoma, and was having treatment performed this May for unspecified health issues.

The frontman received several accolades over the course of his career, earning placements on various lists of the "best metal frontmen" variety. At the Gates' 1995 album Slaughter of the Soul is routinely hailed as a standout, and as one of extreme metal's most impressive offerings.

When he wasn't forging metallic music, Lindberg also taught high school-level social studies. He recalled some of the students finding out who he was in a 2010 interview: "I try to downplay the role," he explained, not wanting his pupils to assume an easy grade due to his "cool" musical background.

Teaching and serving as a founding member of a classic death metal band: you can't get much cooler than that.