In 1994, the black metal scene in Norway was starting to become more and more recognized as the most evil and menacing extreme music scene that began to rival that of the American Death Metal scene. With church burnings, killings, and general acts of terror being done in the name of black metal, it was very easy to see why black metal was beginning to take away the “evil shine” of the death metal scene. But in that same year, a new country threw their proverbial sword into the fire that is the black meal… and they weren’t from Norway but instead… Sweden.
Dark Funeral started out in 1993, a year or so before the release of the “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” album and they quickly began to get noticed for their more straight forward anti-Christian lyrics and more brutalizing take on the black metal sound. While most of the black metal sound, at that time, had a structure where there was time allowed to catch your breath from headbanging, or moshing, with a slower bridge or chorus, Dark Funeral’s approach was to go at 200 mph and not stop; they wanted to brutalize you sonically and lyrically. So when it came time to release their self titled EP, black metal listeners and those migrating from the death metal scene were about to sonically get destroyed.
Now, fast forward 30 years and the black metal scene has changed and branched off into different subsections but Dark Funeral’s debut EP is still regarded as one of the best introductions to a black metal band in the scene’s history. It has been re-released several times on vinyl, cds, and digitally and the 4 songs on it have always been staples in Dark Funeral’s set list for years! But in 2024, the current iteration of the band has decided to re-record those songs and release that album again (digitally it appears to go under the name “In the Signs of the Horns”). Whenever a band decides to do this, there is a chance of harming the memory of the original or, in very FEW occasions, improve on it (e.g. think Dimmu Borgir’s “Stormblast” album). But what you hear in this new re-recording is a band, lead by original founding member Lord Ahriman, playing energetically, more precisely, and oddly… joyfully?
For a band that started over 30 years ago and continue to be relevant in the scene is no easy task and that is what you hear on the album, a band that is continuing forward, uncompromising in their vision, but paying homage to Blackmoon (RIP) and Themgoroth’s contribution to the original album which still sounds just as amazing today as it was released in 1994. You can hear the current version of the band having a little fun with the songs, in a respectful way, by changing a few little details in the drum patterns or even in the guitar playing but all with the utmost respect for the original. The one big difference and, maybe, improvement is the vocals by Heljarmadr who takes a more angry and torturous approach. Now, Themgoroth’s were not weak in the original but when you compare the two… Heljarmadr’s approach is more hellish and visceral in comparison.
This is truly one of the best re-recordings of a classic that can be thought of to recent date. The vinyl and CD versions will have both the original and re-recorded versions on it with original artwork from the original release (although the “In the Sign of” version has an amazing cover that I definitely want a poster of). This is definitely a must own for record or music collectors and an amazing homage to a true black metal classic!