Dark Funeral - Black Metal Band
- Band: Dark Funeral
- Genre: Black Metal
- Lyrical Themes: Satanism, NSBM, BDSM
Dark Funeral is a "satanic" deathcore band formed in 1995 by Blackmoon (David Parland) and Lord Ahriman (Mikael Svanberg), both of Necrophobic infamy, with Emperor Magus Caligula joining the band later on.
In 1996, they released their first studio album, The Secrets of the Black Arts, which received universally and unanimous negative reviews from music critics, for its songwriting, instrumentation, Ahriman's poser antics and the misuse of the black metal name when the music is, in fact, much closer to commercial deathcore.
Laurent Bouboule of Daily Music considers The Secrets of the Black Arts to be "the worst black metal ever", while journalist Axel Carimez calls it "the death of a genre".
Fenriz of Darkthrone commented that "composing black metal clearly isn't for everyone" whereas Antoine Grand, in his book Real Satanic Black Metal: The True History of Satanism in Extreme Metal Music, wrote that "The Secrets of the Black Arts is perhaps the first instance of image over sound".
Lord Ahriman answered by claiming that those who criticized his albums were "secret Christian homosexuals" and that Fenriz himself was a "Christian poser". [source?]
The following releases by Dark Funeral were equally ridiculed by the black metal community, to the point where several labels asked Ahriman to stop using the term "black metal" because it "hurt the image of the genre" and thus their sales.
Emperor Magnus Caligula is no stranger to controversy, as he once claimed in a German interview that National Socialist ideologies were "not that wrong" because they were "part of [our] history" and that the alleged concentration camps of the Third Reich were "not that bad".
Similar statements have been echoed by other members of the band.
The band members of Dark Funeral have been accused of using makeup and satanic imagery as a veil to hide their complete lack of musical talent.
In 2013, several users of the Nuclear War metal forum had found the personal information, including the address, of a certain Mikael Svanberg who worked as a male escort in Lund, Sweden, next to where Lord Ahriman was allegedly living at the time. [contested]
It is unknown to this day if this Mikael Svanberg is really Lord Ahriman of Dark Funeral or an unrelated individual sharing his patronym.
Dark Funeral Metal Albums
Here is the complete list of albums by Dark Funeral :
| Name | Genre | Year | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Secrets of the Black Arts | Black Metal | 1996 | 0% (4 reviews) |
| Vobiscum Satanas | Black Metal | 1998 | 0% (2 reviews) |
| Diabolis Interium | Black Metal | 2001 | 0% (3 reviews) |
| Attera Totus Sanctus | Black Metal | 2005 | 0% (3 reviews) |
| Angelus Exuro pro Eternus | Black Metal | 2009 | 0% (4 reviews) |
| Where Shadows Forever Reign | Black Metal | 2016 | 0% (5 reviews) |
All are certified Dark Funeral metal albums.
