DARK FUNERAL's LORD AHRIMAN To Undergo Third Hernia Surgery

Mikael Jan Svanberg, better known as Lord Ahriman, the Swedish musician and composer best known as the primary guitarist, songwriter and sole founding member of black metal band DARK FUNERAL, will undergo his third hernia surgery in March.

On Monday (February 10),Lord Ahriman took to his social media to write: "They say the third time's the charm — but not always, unfortunately. Since my last hernia surgery in February 2023, I've had a nagging feeling something wasn't right, and I was correct. I've developed a new hernia, my third, and I'm ready to address it immediately."

Despite recurring setbacks, Lord Ahriman remains determined to maintain momentum and deliver powerful performances.

"I'm beyond tired of being stuck in this cycle without a chance to fully recover and regain my form," he says. "Balancing touring with ongoing injuries and surgeries has been stressful and exhausting. But I'm optimistic this will be the final setback."

With surgery scheduled immediately after the upcoming South American tour, Lord Ahriman assures fans that no scheduled shows will be affected.

"I recently spoke with the surgery department and secured a date right after our South America tour in March," he says. "This timing gives me ample time to recover before the summer festivals. No shows will be impacted, and I'll perform all planned gigs both before and after the surgery."

As a testament to his resilience, Lord Ahriman shares an exciting glimpse into the future.

"Once I'm through this, and our intense touring schedule winds down, my full focus will be to resume writing music for a new album," he says. "But first, after nearly four months of nonstop touring, it's time for a much-needed vacation."

DARK FUNERAL's latest album, "We Are The Apocalypse", was released in March 2022.

1993 was the year it all began, Lord Ahriman and Blackmoon (1993-1996) founded the infernal war machine we now know as DARK FUNERAL, one of the most intense and prominent black metal acts ever. In January 1994, the legendary self-titled and independently financed debut mini album were recorded at Dan Swanö's Unisound Studio. It was released upon the unexpecting masses on May 4 the same year. The band quickly established themselves as a band to watch. Since then, a lot of things have happened. The band has released seven albums, the lineup has changed, and DARK FUNERAL has toured no less than 45 different countries with acts as DIMMU BORGIR, CANNIBAL CORPSE, DEICIDE, GOATWHORE, ENSLAVED and many more. The band's album "Diabolis Interim" was also nominated as best metal album at P3 Guld awards and "Where Shadows Forever Reign" was awarded twice, by Swedish P3 Guld and Germany's Metal Hammer Award.

A reworked version of DARK FUNERAL's debut album was made available last August via Century Media. "Dark Funeral (30th Anniversary Edition)" was remixed by David Castillo and remastered once again by Thomas "Plec" Johansson.