October 12th was the date that headliners and Swedish black metal legends Dark Funeral invaded The Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie New York, along with fellow Swedes Naglfar and hotshot American death/black metal upstarts Daath. So much black metal mayhem in one evening was a dream come true for the few hundred in attendance, and all three bands delivered what became a very memorable evening of extreme metal mayhem. Sea of Tranquility Publisher Pete Pardo was on hand for all the excitement and brings his full show review.

Roadrunner Records' new darlings Daath, fresh off Ozzfest as well as support dates with Nile, were opening this show and gracing The Chance stage for the second time in about a month, as they appeared with Nile & Chthonic fairly recently. Despite the fact that the band has a limited amount of material, they played a fair amount of songs from their Roadrunner debut The Hinderers, and it was obvious that most of the fans in the audience were more familiar with them this time around. While not so much a black metal band as the other acts on this tour, Daath have enough black & death metal elements to go along with their metalcore framework to please some of the extreme metal fans, and their 30 minute set went over pretty well on this evening.

Black metal veterans Naglfar walked onto the stage to a huge applause, as this would be the Swede's first visit to the United States. With a large back catalog and a solid new release Harvest, Naglfar tore through tunes from the new CD, as well as sprinklings from Pariah, Vittra, and Sheol, delighting the crowd who obviously have waited many years for their arrival. Prowling the stage is former bassist and now lead singer Kristoffer Olivius, who spews out plenty of venom while the rest of the band launch into one assault after another of thrashy black metal. Thankfully, the band got close to an hour of stage time, and really seemed touched at how into their set the crowd was. They vowed to return, and let's hope they do.

Dark Funeral need no introduction folks, as these legends have been pummeling audiences with their brand of savage, Satanic black metal for about 15 years now. With their corpse paint and outlandish costumes, the band came out on stage like some kind of extreme metal circus act, and from the opening riffs of "King Antichrist" there was no relief in sight. With Caligula at center stage proving to be an imposing figure as he screams and growls his way through each blasphemous number, the band took the crowd through many favorites that litterally shook the foundation of The Chance. Guitarist and founding member Lord Ahriman, along with Chaq Mol, churned out massive tremelo picked riffs that might sound monotonous to some, but are highly melodic when you really break them down. New drummer Dominator (also of the death metal band Aeon) proved to be the real eye opener of the evening. This guy can flat out kill on the drum kit, as his whirlwind fills and powerful blast beats were some of the most impressive work many in attendance had seen in a long time. He amazed with his skills on such classic tracks as "666 Voices Inside", "Secrets of the Black Arts", "Diabolus Interium", and "Attera Totus Sanctus", so much so that after you got over gazing at the costumed players moving about the stage and the spectacle of it all, you were drawn by this amazing drummer who actually took Dark Funeral to another level on this night.

Despite the fact that a rather smallish crowd showed up in Poughkeepsie on this night, it didn't deter the bands one bit. Anytime you can experience an evening of black metal in an out of the way place like The Chance, it's a good thing.

Pete Pardo

Dark Funeral Set list
King Antichrist
666 Voices Inside
The Arrival of Satan's Empire
Goddess of Sodomy
Attera Totus Sanctus
Diabolus Interium
Secrets of the Black Arts
Open the Gates
An Apprentice of Satan
Hail Murder
Atrum Regina