underground_blasphemies: Dark Funeral "Where Shadow Forever Reign" Century Media (2016)

Dark Funeral are back after a very short break. It took only seven years. No doubt, Lord Ahriman hates to be passive. However, the band has returned to blue artworks after a red period. The stereotypical yet great painting provides clues about the musical offering. In accordance with the generic cover scenario, the nine compositions show their force without unveiling any kind of experiments. Guess the hiatus of seven years was too short for having a new idea...? Maybe this sounds negative, but this lack of innovations has positive aspects as well. It ensures that Dark Funeral stay away from symphonic bombast, ambient accidents and progressive bulkiness. No doubt, that's a good thing. "Where Shadows Forever Reign" are awesome Black Metal.

The track list are:

1. Unchain My Soul

2. As One We Shall Conquer

3. Beast Above Man

4. As I Ascend

5. Temple of Ahriman

6. The Eternal Eclipse

7. To Carve Another Wound

8. Nail Them to the Cross

9. Where Shadows Forever Reign

The line up are:

Lord Ahriman Guitars, Bass, Lyrics (tracks 4, 5), Songwriting

Chaq Mol Guitars

Dominator Drums, Songwriting (tracks 1, 2, 8)

Heljarmadr Vocals

Anyway, surprisingly calm tones open the album. But rest assured, it does not take long until the combative institution calls for battle. "Unchain My Soul", the initial explosion, is a fine combination of catchy elements and furious leads. The black lava starts to flow and covers all areas. In addition, the subliminal riffing creates an aura of desperation and a short break emphasises the brutality of the fast parts, while the dense and powerful production has a homicidal touch. There can be no question that Dark Funeral wanted to have exactly this sound. By the way, they introduce a new lead vocalist successfully. His contribution is on a par with that of the vigorous instrumental section. He does not revolutionize the overall appearance of the band, but he delivers the appropriate amount of hate, nastiness and violence. Mission fulfilled, I would say.

Dark Funeral still love velocity and tracks like "Beast Above Man" or "As One We Shall Conquer" (fantastic verses!) leave no doubt that the dudes are still able to compose and perform gripping high speed eruptions. Yet the band also likes to take a bath in slowly flowing rivers. The fairly cautious "Temple of Ahriman" (the boss seems to be a little bit vain - why didn't they call it "Temple of Felix 1666"?) is driven by flattening double bass, but its most conspicuous feature is constituted by the extremely mature melody that forms the chorus. Placed on position five, this temple stands in the centre of the album and I do not think that this is a coincidence. A very strong piece - its only blemish is that it has been previously released. The same applies for the solid "Nail Them to the Cross". I hate this kind of recycling, but that's another story.

The shady creatures have penned a compact, more or less monolithic full-length. No inadequate elements disturb the eternal reign of shadows and the only number that cannot keep the quality level (the almost doomy "As I Ascend") does not spoil the joy about the comeback of the legend from Sweden. Too bad that Ahriman is not tortured by the restlessness that haunts Morgan, the mastermind of Marduk. Otherwise, this would probably be the tenth or eleventh blazing full-length of his army. However, the final highlight of "Where Shadows Forever Reign" is marked by the smoothly running "To Carve Another Wound". Its demoniac profoundness lends the mid-paced track an intense aura. Inter alia due to songs of this black grandeur, I am curious to see what Dark Funeral will deliver on their next full-length. I am sure, we will be smarter in seven years.