Dark Funeral

“Attera Totus Sanctus” (Candlelight)

Compare to: Marduk, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor

Without a doubt, heavy metal has always been the devil’s music, and nowhere is this more apparent than on Dark Funeral’s latest infernal opus, “Attera Totus Sanctus.” With track titles like “King Antichrist,” “Godhate” and “Angel Flesh Impaled,” it’s doubtful the members of this Swedish black metal quartet ever attended Sunday school.

But beneath the corpse paint, pentagrams and satanic lyrics, Dark Funeral is first and foremost an accomplished metal band. Although its recordings are too polished to be respected by most black metal purists, few could deny the ferocity with which the band attacks its material, particularly drummer Matte Modin’s hellish blasting. Modin’s double bass assaults gel seamlessly with guitarists Lord Ahriman and Chaq Mol’s ability to create twisted melodies, like something you’d hear on a Top 40 radio station in the abyss. As the band create this instrumental maelstrom, vocalist Emperor Magus Caligula spews lyrical blasphemies, screaming as if he’s being mauled by a pack of hellhounds.

Although “Attera Totus Sanctus” is an impressive album, there are some flaws in Dark Funeral’s approach. The songs are very similar in structure, causing them to start running together shortly after the album’s halfway point. This lack of variation makes the second part of the disc far less compelling.

Many black metal elitists may scoff, but “Attera Totus Sanctus” is Dark Funeral’s best album to date, great for scaring the hell out your neighbors and those pesky Norma Jean fans.

Buy it

– Joshua Haun