Alongside contemporaries Dissection and Marduk, DARK FUNERAL are among the most important Swedish black metal bands ever. In fact, when one merely mentions the phrase “Swedish black metal,” thoughts immediately turn to their name: since their formation in 1993, DARK FUNERAL quickly came to define the shocking sound of cryogenic melody and cruelly blasting fury. Though their six albums to date have been patiently parceled out over a considerable amount of time, their works endure to this day and have influenced countless bands over the past 20 years.
Originally released in the autumn of 2009, of DARK FUNERAL’s fifth album, Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus, completes something of a trilogy with the predecessors Diabolis Interium (2001) and Attera Totus Sanctus (2005), in that they all featured the band’s fastest and fiercest work yet along with suitably fiery cover artwork. However, that’s not to say that Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus merely repeated past glories; in fact, DARK FUNERAL here exhibited a relatively adventurous grasp of dynamics to suit the more melancholic & romantic themes being explored here. More than that, some 15-plus years after their formation, their power and passion had not lessened one bit. Sadly, Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus was to be the final recorded performance of founding vocalist Emperor Magus Caligula.
At long last, OSMOSE will do DARK FUNERAL’s back catalog justice with the first of many reissues. This version of Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus will faithfully reproduce the original, now finally available on vinyl for the first time in nearly a decade
