Abbath abruptly scrapped their set at the ‘SaariHelvetti Festival‘ at Viikinsaari in Tampere, Finland yesterday, August 14th. That decision came about amid the opening song, “To War!“. Amid performing that track, the black metal outfit’s vocalist/guitarist namesake Abbath Doom Occulta proceeded to throw down his guitar and storm offstage. Occulta notably abandoned his traditional corpse paint and stage attire for this set, unlike his bandmates, who kept up their expected appearances.
The band’s drummer Ukri Suvilehto later went on to address the audience, stating, according to Inferno:
“Let’s just say that it probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone that our lead singer is struggling with health problems, so we’re very sorry if this gig has been interrupted. But we, as solid professionals, are prepared for anything, so we’ll see. But thank you and sorry. We have done everything we can.”
Abbath Doom Occulta has had similarly abrupt and chaotic performances in the past, amid battles with sobriety. However, it is unclear what health issues caused this latest abbreviated set.
