ABBATH‘s latest concert cancelations come about a month after the band ended its performance at the SaariHelvetti festival in Tampere, Finland after only about two minutes.

A YouTube clip of ABBATH‘s appearance at SaariHelvetti set showed the band launching into the opening song, “To War!”, with Abbath — whose real name is Olve Eikemo — not sporting any of his trademark corpsepaint and body armor, unlike his bandmates. About halfway through the track, Abbath could be seen angrily throwing his guitar onto the stage and walking off.

According to Inferno magazine, ABBATH‘s Finnish drummer Ukri Suvilehto then stepped to the front of the stage and told the audience that the singer has been struggling with health problems and apologized on the band’s behalf.

“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,” Ukri reportedly said. “But we, as solid professionals, are prepared for anything, so we’ll see. But thank you and sorry. We have done everything we can.”

The organizers later announced that the gig ended unexpectedly because “Abbath was unable to perform due to singer Abbath Doom Occulta‘s health problems.”

ABBATH‘s participation in the SaariHelvetti festival was announced in March.

Back in November 2019, ABBATH played a disastrous two-song concert in Buenos Aires, Argentina, resulting in some fans requesting a refund. ABBATH‘s lineup for that show consisted only of its visibly inebriated namesake frontman alongside then-bassist Mia Wallace and drummer Ukri “Uge” Suvilehto. Rumors had spread earlier in the day that Abbath had gotten into an argument with guitarist Ole André Farstad, who reportedly decided to stay at the hotel and skip the gig.

Later that same month, Abbath issued a statement saying that he had been battling addiction and vowing to commit himself to a rehab program that would help him “get clean once and for all.”

Early in 2020, he reported he had been sober for two months and was “in good shape.”

ABBATH has spent the last few years touring in supporting of its latest album, “Dread Reaver”, which arrived in March 2022 via Season Of Mist. ‘Dread Reaver’can be listened to in full HERE. The album is still available in the Season of Mist shop HERE. The cover artwork, which was created by Bjørn Stian Bjoarvik and Francisco Munoz, and further album details can be found below.

Stream  ‘Dread Reaver’ below.