Review DARK FUNERAL ‘We are the Apocalypse’

Dark Funeral can be regarded as one of the veterans of the Swedish Black Metal. The band, founded in the early ‘90s, belongs to spearhead of black metal and although the track records doesn’t contain countless releases, each of the so far unleashed six longplayers was a powerful ode to black metal.

‘Where Shadows Forever Reign’ was the latest release by the Stockholm-based quintet. The album was a kind of caesura for the band since it introduced with Heljarmadr and new frontman.

The new album is entitled ‘We are the Apocalypse’ and in these crazy days one could ask how much of the apocalypse comes via a black metal album versus an extremely twisted reality. However, ‘We are the Apocalypse’ is the title of the newest achievement of Dark Funeral and the band picks it up where they left off with the predecessor. With the contribution of the new band members Adra-Melek and Jalomaah, Dark Funeral created another hellish masterpiece.

The opener ‘Nightfall’ doesn’t leave any space for interpretation. Dark Funeral ignite a devilish musical hellfire that burns for 44 minutes. Diabolic vocals and racing speed is what characterize the opener, a song that acts as a great kickstart into this blackened world of music. The way how pukes out vocals is creating a hellish atmosphere, emphasized by the narrative vocals and the chorus being a heart-piercing one.

Dark Funeral isn’t a band that’s afraid of high-speed metal. Songs like the racing ‘When Our Vengeance is Done’ indicate this in clear fashion. In combination with a very dense sound, the band create a mighty musical rampart.

There are songs though that aren’t as fast as most of the other tracks. ‘When I’m Gone’ is a little masterpiece on the album. Acoustic guitars, that’s what starts the song. From the beginning, the hellish anthem is kept in deep minor and at moderate pace. The force doesn’t arise from speed. The infernal atmosphere comes via the mighty riffing and the diabolically delivered vocals.

The mighty ‘Leviathan’ follows a similar pattern before it is up to the title track to round off an album that comes with diabolic fascination. Adamant, savage and opulent, that’s ‘We are the Apocalypse’. Dark Funeral have already some excellent album releases under their belt and the newest addition to their discography shows the black metal pioneers in excellent shape.