Back in July 2022, Cronos (VENOM), Tomas Lindberg (AT THE GATES), Scott Carlson (REPULSION), Johnny Hedlund (UNLEASHED) and Urskogr (SERPENT OMEGA) were among the special guests who performed with ENTOMBED at the band’s exclusive show at the Gefle Metal Festival in Gävle, Sweden.

ENTOMBED‘s core lineup for the Gefle Metal Festival concert included Hellid, Cederlund and Andersson 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 “L.G.” 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.

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

L.G. formed a similarly named new band called ENTOMBED A.D. in 2014 when he and other members of ENTOMBED decided to change the band’s name in order to avoid a legal battle with 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.

In November 2016, 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.”