Melody and variety on a Dark Funeral album? Yep, better believe it, as the Swedish veterans have mixed things up a bit on their latest platter of black metal mayhem, titled Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus. It's been four years since Attera Totus Sanctus, but it hasn't been time wasted, as the band toured pretty regularly over the last few years, and when the time was right, went into the Abyss Studios with Peter Tagtgren and cranked this puppy out. I must say, the results are quite impressive, with Dark Funeral putting together one of their most well-rounded albums in many years.
Though most of Dark Funeral's output has been impressive, there always tended to be a 'samey-ness' about many of their songs. You know, speed of light blast beats, demonical vocals, raging tremelo picked guitar riffs, and Satanic lyrics, etc.. Though much of those elements are still here, not every song follows this path, as evident by the melodic "The End of Human Race", or the mix of speed and slower tempos on the excellent "The Birth of the Vampiir". Fret not vintage black metal fanatics, the band still churns out plenty of furious, speed of light fare on the evil "Stigmata", a great vehicle for new drummer Dominator (who many will know from his great work with the band Aeon) and the absolutely pummeling "My Funeral". There's always been something about those Dark Funeral guitar riffs-it's a wall of sound that these guys create which almost give off a symphonic effect as if they had used keyboards to thicken up the sound. There's plenty of these tasty 'wall of sound' riffs here on each and every song, but as I mentioned earlier, the band varies up the attack a bit which is kind of refreshing for a change.
Other highlights include the hellish, maniacal title track (featuring some amazing blast beats from Dominator), the almost death metal gem "Declaration of Hate" (which features some deliciously goulish vocals from Emperor Magus Caligula), and the melodic & highly textured "In My Dreams", a real tasty slice of progressive black metal featuring some highly impressive guitar work. My guess is, longtime fans might have an issue with Angelus Exuro Pro Eternus simply because it's a tad less brutal than some of their classic material, but if you're still on the fence with black metal due to your need for melody, this might be the perfect place for you to start with Dark Funeral.
Track Listing
1. The End Of Human Race
2. The Birth Of The Vampiir
3. Stigmata
4. My Funeral
5. Angelus Exuro pro Eternus
6. Demons of Five
7. Declaration of Hate
8. In My Dreams
9. My Latex Queen
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