Earlier this month, Behemoth announced that Nergal is “seriously ill and waiting for [his] multi-stage treatment,” and that the band consequently had to cancel all their upcoming tour dates. Although the band didn’t specify what sickness was afflicting Nergal, the “multi-stage treatment” part of the statement caused many to speculate that it was cancer.

And, unfortunately, that speculation was correct: According to Metal Underground, a Polish celebrity news site, TVP, has revealed that the Behemoth mastermind has leukemia.

That news would be terrible enough, but, unfortunately, it gets worse. From Metal Underground:

“…the disease has advanced to the point where chemotherapy can no longer be an effective treatment and can only be cured through a bone marrow transplant. “Within the country of Poland, there are only 100,000 donors out of a population of 38,192,000. Nergal’s fiance Doda has already donated her bone marrow but it’s unknown if her bone marrow will provide a DNA match.”

Apparently benefit concerts are being organized in Poland, although the artists and dates for those concerts have yet to be announced.

This is obviously terrible, terrible news, and there isn’t much to say. We wish all the best for Nergal, his friends, and his family.

-AR