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 2001 on the pivotal No Fashion label, DARK FUNERAL’s third album, Diabolis Interium, arguably brought the band to their biggest audiences yet. The album’s release was followed by wealth of touring across both Europe and the United States, the latter still a rarity back then for Scandinavian black metal bands. Indeed, with the razor-sharp execution across Diabolis Interium, DARK FUNERAL were perfect ambassadors for the sound, and for Swedish black metal in general: many bands had come and gone over the ‘90s, but there they stood, sticking to their guns – and spiked gauntlets. Nothing could extinguish this inferno!
At long last, OSMOSE will do DARK FUNERAL’s back catalog justice with the first of many reissues. This version of Diabolis Interium will faithfully reproduce the original, now finally available on vinyl for the first time in a decade.
