Black From The Dead

Black metal isn't always renowned for its subtlety and Dark Funeral guitarist Lord Ahriman (real name Micke Svanberg) doesn't hesitate when asked what Australian audiences can expect when the Swedes return to these parts. “I think they're gonna be a little surprised on the whole energy of the show that we have nowadays,” he boasts. “It's a stronger machine than ever and they will see that. It's going to be probably the most intense show they ever will witness. I can't think of a more intense thing than going to a Dark Funeral show at the moment. We're coming with a stronger energy and we're going to blast your face off.”

The axeman explains this confidence is symptomatic of their current incarnation's greater dedication. He's the only member still standing since their 1993 inception and they will return with several new charges from their inaugural trek to our shores a few years ago. Recent recruits include vocalist Nachtgarm, who replaced longtime frontman Emperor Magus Caligula last year. “We played some shows over the summer and people are really stunned. It's just a stronger machine than ever. You can see that from the stage; things really are working out much better nowadays. Everybody's more focused in the new line-up and of course that gives results onstage eventually.”

Lord Ahriman reveals that Dark Funeral is slowly working on the follow-up to 2009's Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus. Their current plan is to release a single early next year, followed by a full-length. “We are still writing and I wish I had more time to write,” he sighs. “But the last couple of months, there's just too much happening. We have three other tours coming up and there's loads of stuff to take care of; it takes up every moment of my day. I curse myself every day: 'Fuck, I wish I had more time to really dig deep into the music.'

“But this morning I started setting up my new laptop that I'm going to bring for the US tour. I'm going to install all the studio programs and everything, so hopefully I can set up a small home studio on the tour bus. I usually just lock myself up in a basement and focus entirely on it. As long as I can record ideas, then work on them more properly when we return from the tour, that's all right. It's too early to say at the moment, but from the stuff I've written so far, there's lots of new things going on within the music, and more rhythmic parts that I'm trying to bring in. It sounds Dark Funeral, but still very refreshing I think.”

The guitarist says the band have plenty of activities in the pipeline for their 20th anniversary, planning for which has led to periods of reflection on their roots and the music that so deeply inspires them. “I'm always interested to listen to lots of new bands, but I don't really have time for it. I was asked to be a DJ on a new metal club opening up. I was like, 'Okay, if I'm going to do this, it's only going to be, like, late-'80s, early-'90s extreme metal.' So I started listening to some old records that I hadn't listened to in a long time and I thought that things were so much better before,” he laughs. “It's always, the first record you experience that you really fucking like, that record is going to be really difficult for that band or any other band to break it. It always turns out all the records that you really liked a lot in the past, when you go back to them it's like, 'Wow, this is still fucking great.'”

Dark Funeral will be playing the following shows: