Watch: ENTOMBED Joined By VENOM, AT THE GATES, UNLEASHED And REPULSION Members For GEFLE METAL FESTIVAL Performance

Cronos (VENOM),Tomas Lindberg (AT THE GATES),Scott Carlson (REPULSION),Johnny Hedlund (UNLEASHED) and Urskogr (SERPENT OMEGA) are among the special guests who performed with influential Swedish metallers ENTOMBED at their exclusive show last night (Thursday, July 14) at the Gefle Metal Festival in Gävle, Sweden.

ENTOMBED's core lineup for the Gefle Metal Festival concert included original members Alex Hellid (guitar),Uffe Cederlund (guitar) and Nicke Andersson (drums) plus former ENTOMBED bassist Jörgen Sandström, who previously played with the band between 1995 and 2004.

Toward the end of the set, ENTOMBED played with two drummer and two drum kits, with the band's former drummer Peter Stjärnvind joining in.

During a playback of late ENTOMBED frontman Lars-Göran Petrov's piano instrumental "DCLXVI", Alex, Jörgen and Uffe stood still looking down as a tribute to L.G. during which a second drum kit was rolled out and then they played "Chief Rebel Angel" and "Stranger Aeons", with both Peter and Nicke on drums and Peter's wife Pia on vocals. Pia then left the stage, and Peter and Nicke continued playing with Johnny on vocals.

The setlist for the performance was as follows:

01. Left Hand Path (Jörgen Sandström on vocals)
02. But Life Goes On (with Tomas Lindberg)
03. Out Of Hand (with Tomas Lindberg)
04. Living Dead (with Tomas Lindberg)
05. Like This With The Devil (with Tomas Lindberg)
06. The Truth Beyond (with Tomas Lindberg)
07. Eyemaster (with Scott Carlson)
08. Abnormally Deceased (with Scott Carlson)
09. Serpent Speech (with Scott Carlson)
10. Black Breath (with Scott Carlson)
11. Damn Deal Done (with Scott Carlson)
12. Chief Rebel Angel (with Pia Stjärnvind a.k.a. Urskogr)
13. Stranger Aeons (with Pia Stjärnvind a.k.a. Urskogr)
14. To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth (with Johnny Hedlund)
15. Revel In Flesh (with Johnny Hedlund)
16. Wolverine Blues (with Johnny Hedlund)
17. Supposed To Rot (with Johnny Hedlund)
18. Night Of The Vampire (ROKY ERICKSON AND THE ALIENS cover) (with Johnny Hedlund)

Encore:

19. Bursting Out (VENOM cover) (with Cronos)
20. Countess Bathory (VENOM cover) (with Cronos)

Encore 2:

21. Witching Hour (VENOM cover) (with Cronos)

Petrov died on March 7, 2021 after a battle with bile duct cancer. He was 49 years old.

When ENTOMBED's appearance at Gefle Metal Festival was first announced last year, CEO Edward Janson said in a statement: "LG was a central figure in Swedish metal who left a huge void behind. When we started Gefle Metal Festival 2016, FIRESPAWN with LG was the very first band to play and at the last festival in 2019, he was on stage with his ENTOMBED A.D. In between, he was in attendance as an enthusiastic fan. It feels good to be able to pay tribute to LG and his contributions to metal with this concert."

ENTOMBED A.D. was formed in 2014 when Petrov and other members of ENTOMBED decided to change the band's name in order to avoid a legal battle with ENTOMBED guitarist Alex Hellid who didn't want his former bandmates to use the ENTOMBED moniker.

In August 2020, Petrov told Metal Hammer about how he found out about his cancer: "A couple of months ago. I felt a lump in my solar plexus. And I was, like, 'Okay, I'll ignore it.' But then it started to hurt, so I went to the doctor, and they X-rayed it quickly and said, 'You have to go to the specialist.' That was weird. You can't imagine what it feels like. Your whole body goes warm. It's, like, 'Fucking hell.'"

Although Petrov revealed his cancer was "incurable," he said that the doctors were "hoping" they would be able to treat it. "Being young, the doctor said there's hopefully a way to control it so it doesn't spread, or maybe even make it smaller," he said.

Less than six years ago, Hellid, Cederlund and Andersson played ENTOMBED's groundbreaking 1991 album, "Clandestine", in its entirety at Malmö Live in Malmö, Sweden. Joining them at that show were Robert Andersson (vocals) and Nicke's half brother Edvin Aftonfalk (bass),both formerly of the Swedish death metal band MORBUS CHRON. Two weeks earlier, the Hellid-led lineup of ENTOMBED made its live debut on the Close-Up Båten cruise.

Hellid and Petrov had been embroiled in a legal battle over the ENTOMBED name for several years. In 2014, Petrov was reportedly awarded the right to use the band name in connection with future recording and touring activities, a decision which Hellid appealed without success. The guitarist then went on to register a trademark for spirits production under the "Entombed" name. This move did not sit well with Hellid's former bandmate, who filed a letter of protest against Alex's registration of the name, claiming that it could be confused with band activities. He also said that Hellid acted in "bad faith" when he registered name and that there was a desire to "deceive the public." Petrov's protest, however, found no favor with the Swedish Patent And Registration Office, which rejected his claims on the issue in a March 2016 ruling.

In an interview with Revolution-Music.dk, Petrov defended his group's decision to release albums and tour under the name ENTOMBED A.D. in order to avoid a legal battle with Hellid who didn't want his former bandmates to use the ENTOMBED moniker: "It had to be done, because without an album you can't tour," he explained. "I mean, you can tour, but if there's seven years between albums, it's ridiculously long. So we did the right thing, and we did what bands should do, and still do — release an album and go on tour and headbang and have a good time with friends, and that's what it's all about."