Among the obsidian-armored ranks of extreme metal, Dark Funeral hold a place of respect. For almost 30 years, the Swedish band have played forward-charging black metal with a hard satanic bent, that remains stalwart in its roiling contempt of the trends that come and go around it. Now, the band have dropped a new single from their upcoming album via a satanic music video, and it’s a certified rager.
The latest from Dark Funeral is called “Let The Devil In,” and moves along at a delicious steamroller stomp. The song feels like the soundtrack to a march on Heaven, its mid-paced rhythm seemingly written for the sake of headbanging one’s fucking face off. This doesn’t mean it’s all chug — there are some powerfully arch riffs here, especially in the bridge, which touch on that eyes-to-the-sky longing which is so important to this genre. Overall, it’s the kind of song that satanic metal fans are going to play over and over, and will undoubtedly hear at the bar moving forward (depending on which bar you go to, but, like, this’ll get played at Lucky 13, how about that).
The video, meanwhile, is like a black metal musician’s dream brought to life. The band perform the track in a stone labyrinth of sorts, choked by vines and decay. Interspersed between this footage are shots of a burnt human holding what appears to be their own heart in their hands and an old man whose leaky blindfold suggests that his eyes have been gouged out. It’s a striking collection of imagery that shows how the band are only continuing to refine their craft this far into their career.
Hail Satan as you listen to “Let The Devil In” below:
Dark Funeral’s new album, We Are The Apocalypse, comes out March 14th via Century Media, and is available for preorder. Check out the cover art below:
***
Words by Chris Krovatin