DARK FUNERAL Remains As 'Hungry As Ever' More Than 30 Years Into The Black Metal Game

By David E. Gehlke

There are black metal bands with a better backstory, rap sheet or tall tales than Sweden's DARK FUNERAL. There are also black metal bands who have ventured into the live arena, only to learn they couldn't hang and then quietly drifted back into the shadows. Not DARK FUNERAL. For over 30 years, the Swedes have been one of black metal's most consistent entities, trusted to produce studio albums crafted from the infernal depths of its founder and sole constant member, guitarist Lord Ahriman (real name: Jan Michael Svanberg). While the band's 1996 "The Secret Of The Black Arts" is widely considered their touchstone studio album, more recent efforts such as 2016's "Where Shadows Forever Reign" and 2022's "We Are The Apocalypse" have cast themselves as increasingly diversified efforts that have employed an array of sublimely dark atmospheric passages, showing that DARK FUNERAL is more than just speed.

"A Beast To Praise" is the band's new (and second overall) live album. Recorded at Fållan in Stockholm, Sweden, on April 16, 2022, the effort proved significant: It was one of the first post-lockdown shows in Stockholm and also heralded the release of "We Are The Apocalypse". To little surprise, "A Beast To Praise" catches DARK FUNERAL — a seasoned and tight live band — at their diabolical peak, particularly vocalist Heljarmadr (real name: Erik Andreas Vingbäck),who has emerged as possibly the best frontman of the band's existence. A black metal band releasing a live album is not a regular occurrence, but as Lord Ahriman reminded BLABBERMOUTH.NET during his chat, DARK FUNERAL is not your typical black metal band.

Blabbermouth: You last did a live album in 2004 ("De Profundis Clamavi ad Te Domine"). What was the rationale behind releasing one now?

Lord Ahriman: "We've always been a live band. To release a live record is awesome for us to show that we're not just a studio band, that we can also deliver live. Everybody can watch us for real. This gives them a chance to experience it by listening to the live record. They can go back and listen to it whenever they want. I mean, we've been trying to record a lot of shows over the years, but none of them turned out good. This show was very special. First, it was the release party for 'We Are The Apocalypse' and it was also one of the first live gigs in Stockholm after the pandemic. Everybody was like, 'Okay. Are people going to show up? How are we going to do this if nobody shows up?' No one had been to shows for a long time. I know that lots of people were a bit skeptical: 'Can I go? Can I not?' We thought, 'Let's do it and see what happens.' It turned out to be a great idea because the chemistry…this is a once-in-a-lifetime moment, I hope. Coming back onstage after the pandemic, after everything had been shut down. That feeling was very special for everybody, the band, the crew and also the crowd."

Blabbermouth: There's not a lot of black metal live albums; you're sort of bucking the trend here.

Lord Ahriman: "We're not like everybody else. We do things our way. For us, I don't see it as being strange to do a live record. For us, it's quite normal. If you have the possibility to do it, then why not? I love creating a set. We're a worldwide touring band, but we can't go everywhere. People want to experience us live in every corner of the world. Everybody doesn't get the chance. It's also a way to give them something instead of watching YouTube clips or videos on a cell phone. Now, we can offer a little bit more and expand the experience of what kind of band we are."

Blabbermouth: Along those lines, why has DARK FUNERAL always been so willing to tour?

Lord Ahriman: "It's kind of a weird feeling about [playing] live. I never thought we'd end up like this. I never had any intention to be a professional or touring musician; I never thought I'd be a rock star or anything. That's never been my driving force. I wanted to work with art and bring it as far as I can, whether it's designing the stage or writing the music. I guess that's one of the driving forces for me when it comes to playing live. I always feel like we can do it better. I'm kind of chasing something for myself and for the band to try to bring out the perfect live show that you want to experience yourself when I go out and watch a band. I feel like we can always do better. We can always offer more. I think about more than just playing live. I guess I want to build that experience, both for myself and the crowd and if it happens to be live, I have to do it, if you know what I mean. Don't get me wrong: I love going on tour and traveling the world. I love meeting fans from every corner I can, but I never thought about being a live touring musician. It was never in my plans. It just happened. As I said, I have the driving force behind everything I do. I just want to top it all the time. I guess that's the same with the live situation: I want to top it all the time. Here we are, 30 years; I'm trying to top it. I'm still as hungry as ever. That's never faded."

Blabbermouth: Do you face the same dilemma as other veteran bands in choosing the set?

Lord Ahriman: "We're always trying to pick a song or two from every record. The more records we write, the harder it gets because normally we get 60 to 70 minutes or something. On the other hand, I don't think people want to watch a two-hour DARK FUNERAL show with blast beats. [Laughs] There's a lot of thought going into building our setlist. Since we've been around for quite a while, we have older fans who want the older stuff. We have people who like the whole catalog; we have people who only like the newer stuff. For a DARK FUNERAL show, we want to bring as much as we can to everyone. It's become more and more difficult, but we always try to mix older and newer stuff and songs in between.

Blabbermouth: Does "A Beast Of Praise" close out the cycle for "We Are The Apocalypse"? And have you started thinking about a new album?

Lord Ahriman: "I'm almost done with the new record. I've actually been sitting all morning — I've been recording bass the whole week. I mean, it's only pre-production so far. This morning, I got a new vocal track from Heljarmadr. I'll start working on that, but yeah, it's been too much in my head. I said, 'I can't focus on this right now.' I have to put it aside for a bit. We've been working very hard on this record. I'm happy to say that we're near the finish line of completing the songs. I'm excited about this. It's very good. I'm very happy."

Blabbermouth: Directionally speaking, where are the songs leaning?

Lord Ahriman: "Ever since the last record, if I don't have an idea of where I want to go with the next record, there's no reason for me to write. Luckily, I always take something with me from each record. It's always the same: The goal is to bring it as far as I can, but this time, I think it was more difficult in the beginning. I felt like I needed to find a way to get myself inspired, to find those new things that I can bring into the songs without going way off the map. It took a while. But when you stop thinking about those stupid boundaries you put in front of yourself, when your mind is free and you just go, that's what I wanted to start happening. A few people involved in this production have listened to the songs, and they all said, more or less, the same. I was surprised at first, but everyone said, 'It's the same DARK FUNERAL we all love, but you've managed to balance so many new, cool things. You've brought a lot of new things in a perfect balance.' I didn't expect to hear that. That was my intention. If this is the first reaction I get, I feel like, 'Fuck, man.' The hardest part of this was finding ways to keep myself inspired and not just repeating a safe formula and stuff like that. I'm a little bit off my regular arrangement and manner of the songs, but it works. There's still a great flow from beginning to end.

"We're busy this autumn with touring, so first we need to close this chapter with the live record and a final tour, and then we shut the gate on that era and start rolling out the next chapter. We've actually already started. Beyond writing music, we've been planning everything around the next record for about a year already. We're trying to push everything further than we've ever done before. Part of keeping yourself inspired is finding new ways to develop the stage production, stage presence, and overall experience so it works even better with the music. We came up with some really cool ideas last year, and we're still working on them."

Blabbermouth: Along with MARDUK, DARK FUNERAL are somewhat of the elder statesmen of Swedish black metal. With all of these career milestones happening recently, like your 30th anniversary, do you take stock in any of it?

Lord Ahriman: "Not really. We do what we do. It's up to the fans and press to think in those terms. But of course, sometimes the only time I kind of interfere in that discussion is when I see something where that person is totally off the grid in how they think things were, like the history, the story from that time. I have to try to correct that. I was there. It wasn't really the way people make it out to be sometimes."

Blabbermouth: Are you saying people make up stories about the Swedish black metal scene?

Lord Ahriman: "There are so many stories out there that are definitely not true. But I feel there are more important things to focus on."

Blabbermouth: You're fairly active on social media. Why is that? It always seems like you're going somewhere new.

Lord Ahriman: "I'm a restless person, I guess. At the same time, I'm also very private and introverted. I have no problem sitting alone and not talking to anybody for a long period. But I love music. I love concerts. Like, yesterday I saw ARCH ENEMY and IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT. I like living my life, and I don't want to sit around and let it rot away. I want experiences. I like challenging myself. But there are also periods where I just close the door and don't want to see or talk to anybody for days. I absorb impressions very easily, and if I'm around too many people for too long, I feel overwhelmed. I need time to clean my soul from the world. But I like doing things and experiencing things. The problem is I do everything intensely, I'm a very intense person. When I do something, I go all the way. Then afterward I do nothing for a while so I can recharge and get ready for the next round."

Blabbermouth: Chuck Schuldiner's dad, Mal, told me about the time you guys ran into him in Rome. What do you remember about that experience?

Lord Ahriman: "It was really cool. He was super friendly. We met at the Colosseum, and they came up to us and asked, 'Hey, are you guys in a band?' We said yes. Then they asked if we knew DEATH and Chuck. Of course we did! [Laughs] Then he said, 'Well, I'm Chuck's father.' We spent some time talking there. Later I got some messages from Chuck's sister [Beth] as well. I still exchange messages with Chuck's father once in a while."

Blabbermouth: That's amazing. Goes to show how connected our scene is.

Lord Ahriman: "Sometimes the world is small. Sadly, I never met Chuck in person, but I knew some of the other guys from DEATH. Of course, DEATH and Chuck were a huge influence."

Photo credit: Basse Hellgren (courtesy of Freeman Promotions / Century Media)