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Dark Funeral: Attera totus sanctus

14/12/05 || Lord K Philipson

“Dark Funeral is to me what igloos are to Eskimos. Home.”

That’s how I ended my review of DF’s monumental masterpiece “Diabolis Interium” some years ago. With that, one would think my expectations for this album were quite far fucken up there with the moon and stuff. And they were. I have been waiting for this one for so long. Everyone who knows jack-shit about me knows that 2003/2004 was quite some years for me since I had the opportunity to help DF out for some gigs in Japan, Mexico, Italy, Germany and Spain. Playing bass with one of yer absolute fave-bands is something I wish upon everyone who’s cool enough in my fucken book. You are not one of those.

I talked to Lord Ahriman quite a few times while this album was being written and recorded and one thing he always wanted to stress was that this piece wasn’t going to be a “Diabolis Interium pt.2”. I was also sent some riffs with programmed drums to hear some of the ideas that were currently housing in Ahriman’s mind. It sounded really promising to say the least. But ‘nuff about that. The questions are as follows:

1. Is this long-awaited Satanic Symphony a continuance of “Diabolis Interium” or not?

Nope. This is something else. This is darker, faster and more furious than anything Dark Funeral ever recorded in the past.

2. Is it living up to the expectations I have?

Yes and no. I was blown away with the first listen but not as blown away as I was when hearing “The arrival of Satan’s empire” for the first time. That tune still ranks up as one of the best tunes ever composed in the extreme metal field. But that’s in the past now, “Attera Totus Sanctus” (something like “Kill all that is holy” in Norwegian) is now, today, the present. And this album is a grower. It’s not as easy to get into as “Diabolis” was, probably becoz this is more chaotic and insane. Lemme use some of my comments made in DF’s official forum when I first had the chance to hear what these guys were creating (I had no vocals, just the music. There were no titles either so I just named them as I heard them), this way you’ll see some of my initial feelings about what was to come;

“Song 1: Wow. DF always were fast, but this is something else. The trademark melodies and the insane blasts pound your ears to pieces. Matte is displaying some drumming that’s nothing short of unbelievable. Some of the riffs are just.. well… Satan. Absolutely awesome shit. I can only imagine this with Caligula’s vocals.

Song 2: There’s no end to the fucken blasts. The tightness, the insanity, the riffing. It’s all there, it’s all Dark Funeral, and it’s all fucken monstrous. Absolutely fucken monstrous. Poor fucken Matte Modin… This guy must be on fucken crack. Some really eerie riffing in this one which I can imagine is the chorus. Lemme say it again, there’s no fucken end in sight for the blasts… Phew.

Song 3: Fuck me with a corpse-painted broom. Really heavy start of the track with some insane doublebass and neat riffing. Well, it later evolves into some blasts (surprise, surprise) and fast passages with a really groovy riff leading the way before transforming into even more blasts and maliciousness de luxe. It so sounds like the Dark Funeral I know and absolutely love. Impressive.

Song 4: Sweet intro, eerie as fuck. Fuck me again. Oh, the insanity. There’s simply no band that sounds like DF, but fucken DF. You want blasts? You’ll get blasts. You want satanic symphonies? That’s what you will get, believe me. Fucken so believe me. These are symphonies. A mid-section that absolutely kills shit all over the place. Magnificence at large. There’s a guitar-thing in this one that’s so fucken sweet, really pushing the limits quite a bit. Fucken ace. Fucken ace, I tell you.

Song 5: Ok, ladies and gentlemen… Bring out the razors. While you’re at it, bring out fucken buckets too becoz you are about to slit your wrists and bleed all over the place. This one is a nice breather among the rest of the songs. Nope, it’s not a new “Goddess of Sodomy”, this is something else. Depressive, beautiful and not a hint of a smile in sight. This gives me the creeps, a hard-on and chills down my spine at the same time. Marvelous fucken tune.

Well guys, you are in for a treat this time around. I can’t and I won’t compare this to anything else DF’s done since it’s just a glimpse of the full concept, but it’s not like it can get any worse with the addition of vocals and stuff you know. I also have some riffs from Ahriman that he sent me some time ago and as far as I know none of those are included yet. One of those riffs is among the best I have ever heard from him and if he doesn’t include it in some of the remaining songs I will personally beat him to death with a fork.”

As you can tell, I was quite impressed at an early stage. Getting the full CD from vocalist Caligula as we recorded the coming God Among Insects album really put me in trouble, I didn’t wanna listen to the album in the studio, when people were around. I wanted to digest it by myself, at my own place, in my own excellent stereo. I never do this with a band, but with DF I felt I had to.

And I have now done that, numerous times. But it took a while before I actually realized I hadn’t forgotten the CD in the studio as I thought. No, it was safely stored away in one of my guitar cases, which I didn’t open until a few weeks after the recording we did.

“Attera Totus Sanctus” is so fucken uncompromising it’s scary. They have decided to be fuck-all about fuck-all and compose material that really puzzles fucken people. There’s hardly any room for breathing when this one is turned on (except for the absolutely wonderful “Atrium Regina” – a track that makes DF stand out from the rest. Few bands can create a black metal album of this kind and include a track like this and get away with it. Suicidal thoughts comes to mind when this one is playing. This tune reeks of desperation, depression and death).

I fucken love it.

But don’t get me wrong here, bitches. It feels like Dark Funeral blasts 90% of the time on this one, leaving me exhausted with every fucken listen. It might be a bit too much for me to take in as a whole in a short span of time, but it all works out in the end. Caligula’s vocals has changed a little over the years, which is quite evident on this one. At first it caught me a little off-guard, but after getting used to it, it’s all fucken fine. And it’s definitely done in the name of Satan.

The first word I think of when I wanna say something about this album is “uncompromising”. Coz that is exactly what this album is. It’s uncompromising in it’s entirety. Lord Ahriman’s typical riffing is all over the fucken place, neatly executed by him and Chaq Mol. Matte Modin is blasting away like this is his last day on fucken earth. Hired session musician Gustaf Hielm plays the bass, of which I can’t hear that much, unfortunately coz I know this guy probably delivers some insane shit seing he used to be with Meshuggah. And finally, Caligula makes sure the message gets through: We are all going to hell and this could very well be the soundtrack to the journey there.

The change of studio from Abyss to Dug-Out did amazing things to the sound. They have never had a better production in their entire career and with the answer in hand, we all know they made the right decision. All we can hope for now is that it won’t take another 4 years until we get another piece of plastic from these satanic servants. It will be interesting to see what they are going to do after this piece of absolute mayhem.

I still prefer “Diabolis Interium” over this though, but I count on the fact that “Attera Totus Sanctus” will grow even more on me with time. After all, Dark Funeral are one of my fave-bands.

8.5 Satanic Symphonies out of 10

Information
Released: 2005
Label: Regain Records
Website: www.darkfuneral.se
Band
Emperor Magus Caligula: vocals
Lord Ahriman: guitars
Chaq Mol: guitars
Matte Modin: drums
Gustaf Hielm: session-bass

Tracklist
01. King Antichrist
02. 666 Voices Inside
03. Attera Totus Sanctus
04. Godhate
05. Atrum Regina
06. Angel Flesh Impaled
07. Feed On The Mortals
08. Final Ritual

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