Dark Funeral is a Swedish black metal band from Stockholm, founded by guitarists David Parland, known as Blackmoon, and Mikael Svanberg, known as Lord Ahriman, in 1993. The band emerged during the second wave of black metal and has released seven studio albums.
In 1993, Parland and Svanberg formed Dark Funeral and recruited bassist and vocalist Paul Mäkitalo, known as Themgoroth, and drummer Joel Andersson, known as Draugen. In January 1994, the band recorded its self-titled EP at Unisound Studio with Dan Swanö of Edge of Sanity as producer. "Dark Funeral" was released on 4 May 1994. On the same day, the band performed its first concert at Lusa Lottes Pub in Oslo, Norway, alongside Gorgoroth and Marduk. Draugen left the band following the EP and was replaced by Equimanthorn.
Dark Funeral signed with No Fashion Records in 1995 and began work on its debut studio album. Several tracks for "The Secrets of the Black Arts" were initially recorded at Unisound Studio with Swanö, but the band subsequently re-recorded the album with Peter Tägtgren at The Abyss Studio. The re-recorded version included "When Angels Forever Die" and a cover of Von's "Satanic Blood". Blackmoon later attributed the decision to re-record the album to the quality of the original recordings, citing Swanö's exhaustion and recently acquired recording equipment. Shortly after the recording sessions, Dark Funeral performed at the Under the Black Sun festival in Berlin. Magnus "Masse" Broberg, known as Emperor Magus Caligula and formerly the vocalist of Hypocrisy, replaced Themgoroth in 1995.
"The Secrets of the Black Arts" was released on 28 January 1996 and was licensed to Metal Blade in North America and Mystic Productions in Poland. Equimanthorn was replaced by Alzazmon, who later became known for his work with Dissection and Gorgoroth. The lineup of Emperor Magus Caligula, Lord Ahriman, Alzazmon and Blackmoon recorded covers of Bathory's "Call from the Grave" and "Equimanthorn" for the tribute album "In Conspiracy with Satan". The recordings were later remastered and included on the reissued version of the album "In the Sign...". Blackmoon left Dark Funeral at the end of 1996 following disagreements with Lord Ahriman. The band subsequently toured Europe with Necromass on the Satanic War Tour I.
The second leg of the Satanic War Tour featured Ancient and Bal-Sagoth as support acts. Dark Funeral performed its first concert in the United States at the Expo of the Extreme festival in Chicago before embarking on the American Satanic Crusade Tour with Usurper. Acheron and Deströyer 666 were originally scheduled to participate but withdrew from the tour. In September, Dark Funeral returned to The Abyss Studio to record its second studio album, "Vobiscum Satanas".
The band subsequently undertook the Ineffable Kings of Darkness Tour with Enthroned and Liar of Golgotha, with Dominion serving as a session bassist. Dark Funeral also performed at the Hultsfred Festival in Sweden. Following the festival, Typhos was dismissed, Dominion became the band's second guitarist, and Caligula assumed bass duties in addition to vocals.
Before the Bleed for Satan tour with Cannibal Corpse and Infernäl Mäjesty, Alzazmon left the band and Gaahnfaust, who had briefly been a member in 1996, joined. Dark Funeral subsequently toured Mexico and the United States as part of the Black Plague Across the West tour. The band then embarked on the European Satanic Inquisition tour with Dimmu Borgir.
Dark Funeral recorded the EP "Teach Children to Worship Satan" at The Abyss Studio B with engineer Tommy Tägtgren. It featured the song "An Apprentice of Satan" and covers of songs by Slayer, Mayhem, Sodom and King Diamond. The band also filmed a live video for "An Apprentice of Satan". Dark Funeral subsequently toured with Deicide, Immortal and Cannibal Corpse as part of the No Mercy Festivals. Following Gaahnfaust's departure, Matte Modin of Defleshed became the band's permanent drummer and made his live debut at the With Full Force festival.
In early 2001, Dark Funeral recorded its third studio album, "Diabolis Interium", at The Abyss Studio with producer Peter Tägtgren and studio technician Lars Szöke. The album was licensed for release in several countries, including Japan, Brazil, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Thailand, Russia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. Following its release, the band toured Europe with Tidfall, Anorexia Nervosa and Ragnarok, with Mikael Hedlund of Hypocrisy performing bass as a session musician. Hedlund subsequently returned to Hypocrisy, and Richard Cabeza took over session bass duties. Dark Funeral later toured the United States with Cannibal Corpse.
In October 2002, Dark Funeral undertook its first tour of East Asia, performing in Japan, Taiwan and Singapore. The band was described as the first Western extreme metal band to perform in Taiwan and Singapore. On 29 November 2002, Dark Funeral and MNW/No Fashion Records announced that their contractual relationship with Necropolis Records had ended. Necropolis Records had licensed "Diabolis Interium" for North America. Dark Funeral and MNW/No Fashion Records alleged that Necropolis Records had breached its contract.
After the Asian tour, Dominion left Dark Funeral to concentrate on his studies. The band subsequently recruited Chaq Mol, who had previously played in several local metal bands and was also a member of the doom and black metal project Mordichrist. He made his debut with Dark Funeral at Wacken Open Air in 2003.
Following the Wacken Open Air appearance, Dark Funeral toured South America, performing in Brazil, Chile and Colombia. Recordings made during the tour were subsequently used for the live album "De Profundis Clamavi Ad Te Domine", which was assembled with the band's live sound engineer Erik Lidbom of Hitfire Productions.
Dark Funeral subsequently announced its split from MNW/No Fashion Records following a dispute over royalties from the band's back catalogue. A legal dispute followed concerning ownership rights to the recordings. Dark Funeral later signed a licensing agreement with Regain Records for "De Profundis Clamavi Ad Te Domine", which was subsequently licensed in several other territories. Candlelight Records released the album in the United States on 31 May 2005.
In January 2004, Dark Funeral performed in Japan with Goatwhore and Zyklon as part of Extreme the Dojo Volume 9. The band subsequently toured Mexico and appeared at several European festivals, including Piorno Rock in Spain, Tuska Open Air Metal Festival in Finland and the X-Mass Festivals. It also performed at Party.San in Germany, Nordic Rage in Sweden and the Gathering of the Bestial Legions Festival in Los Angeles. The band performed several shows in Italy with Defleshed and toured Israel, Russia and Ukraine in December as part of the Black Winter Days Tour, with Horned NecroCannibals and Icewind Blast as supporting acts.
On 20 January 2005, Dark Funeral signed a new record deal with Regain Records. The band began writing material for a new studio album and also performed at the Metal Mind Festival in Poland before joining the No Mercy Tour with Six Feet Under, Nile and Dying Fetus.
Dark Funeral completed its next studio album, "Attera Totus Sanctus", on 18 August 2005. The album reached number 35 on the Swedish Albums Chart. It was also named Album of the Month by Metallian.com. In November, the band began working with Dragon Production, a division of A.S.S. Concert & Promotion GmbH, which handled its European tour bookings.
In 2006, Dark Funeral toured South America. On 8 October, the band performed in Lima, Peru, without Caligula, who was unable to appear because of illness. A disturbance occurred outside the venue, during which property was damaged and the band's equipment was confiscated by police. The band subsequently postponed scheduled concerts in Latvia and Lithuania.
In early 2007, Dark Funeral toured North America with Enslaved. An Eastern European tour covering Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic states was planned for April, but drummer Matte Modin did not participate. According to the band, Modin initially cited an arm infection and later his son's birthday as reasons for his absence, while the band subsequently learned that he had performed with Raised Fist instead. The tour was cancelled, and Modin left Dark Funeral. In June 2007, Nils Fjellström, known as Dominator and also a member of Aeon and Sanctification, was announced as the band's new drummer. Dark Funeral also appeared in the film "Club Satan: The Witches Sabbath" and contributed the song "King Antichrist" from "Attera Totus Sanctus".
Dark Funeral continued touring North America in 2007 and reissued its first three studio albums with bonus discs. The band released the live albums "Attera Orbis Terrarum - Part I" in 2007 and "Attera Orbis Terrarum - Part II" in 2008.
On 24 October 2008, the Supreme Court of Sweden ruled in favour of Dark Funeral in its legal dispute with MNW/No Fashion Records.
Dark Funeral released its fifth studio album, "Angelus Exuro pro Eternus", in 2009. The band also produced a music video for "My Funeral".
During the second half of 2010, the band's lineup underwent several changes. Emperor Magus Caligula left the band in July after approximately 15 years as its vocalist and lyricist. B-Force and Dominator also departed during the following months. Caligula cited plans to marry and establish a different lifestyle as reasons for his departure, while B-Force left voluntarily. Lord Ahriman subsequently concentrated on writing new material while the band was without a complete lineup.
On 30 June 2011, Dark Funeral announced Nachtgarm of Negator as its new vocalist. Dominator had returned to the band the previous week, and on 27 July 2011, Zornheym was announced as the new bassist. Nachtgarm left Dark Funeral in late 2012 and returned to Negator. Zornheym left the band in 2014.
On 16 December 2014, Dark Funeral released the song and music video "Nail Them to the Cross". The video introduced vocalist Heljarmadr and bassist Natt. By the time the band began recording its sixth studio album in February 2016, Natt had left the group, and Lord Ahriman recorded the bass parts for the album. "Where Shadows Forever Reign" was released by Century Media on 3 June 2016. Gustaf Hielm, who had previously performed session bass on "Attera Totus Sanctus", subsequently returned as a session bassist for live performances. In November 2017, drummer Dominator left the band and was replaced by Jalomaah.
In May 2021, Dark Funeral announced that it had entered the studio to record its seventh studio album. Recording was completed in September 2021. In November 2021, the band announced that the album would be titled "We Are the Apocalypse" and released on 18 March 2022.
In early 2023, Dark Funeral supported Cannibal Corpse on their European spring tour, alongside Ingested. In 2025, the band performed at Maryland Deathfest.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Funeral
Studio albums
The Secrets of the Black Arts (1996)
Vobiscum Satanas (1998, May Satan Be with You)
Diabolis Interium (2001)
Attera Totus Sanctus (2005, Destroy All the Holy)
Angelus Exuro pro Eternus (2009, Angels Burned for Eternity)
Where Shadows Forever Reign (2016)
We Are the Apocalypse (2022)
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…shrink me down again