Rating: 8 / 10 Stars
DARK FUNERAL is: Lord Ahriman – Guitar, Heljarmadr – Vocals, Chaq Mol – Guitar, Adra-Melek – Bass, Jalomaah – Drums.
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REVIEW – More than three decades into their career, DARK FUNERAL remains one of the most imposing names in Swedish black metal, and A Beast To Praise captures exactly why. Recorded at Fållan in Stockholm during the band’s April 16, 2022 hometown performance, the live album documents DARK FUNERAL returning to the stage after the pandemic while celebrating We Are The Apocalypse. The result is nearly 70 minutes of controlled violence, precision, atmosphere, and pure live intensity spread across 13 tracks.
This is also DARK FUNERAL’s first live album in more than two decades, following 2004’s De Profundis Clamavi Ad Te Domine. Rather than simply revisiting a single era, A Beast To Praise pulls songs from across the band’s catalog and places them beside newer material, creating a live retrospective that feels both current and deeply connected to the band’s history.
“Unchain My Soul” opens the set with more than seven minutes of atmosphere and fury. The guitars cut through with icy precision while Jalomaah’s drums provide the relentless foundation underneath Heljarmadr’s commanding vocals. From the opening moments, there is no doubt that DARK FUNERAL is treating this performance like far more than another show.
“The Arrival Of Satan’s Empire” immediately drives the intensity higher. The speed, sharp guitar attack, and violent rhythmic precision give the track the kind of energy that translates perfectly to a live recording. It also served as one of the preview performances released ahead of the album, offering an early indication of just how powerful this set sounds.
“My Funeral” slows the assault just enough to allow its darker atmosphere to breathe. The song remains heavy, but the pacing gives the guitars and vocals more space, reinforcing the sinister mood instead of relying entirely on speed.
“Leviathan” brings the focus back toward the We Are The Apocalypse era. The performance feels massive, with the rhythm section driving underneath layered guitar work while Heljarmadr remains a commanding presence at the center.
“We Are The Apocalypse” sounds particularly fitting in this environment. The title track from the band’s 2022 album carries a sense of destruction and finality that becomes even more effective in front of a hometown audience. The concert itself served as the Stockholm release celebration for We Are The Apocalypse, making this song one of the defining moments of the set.
“Open The Gates” reaches back into DARK FUNERAL’s earliest material and demonstrates how well the older songs still hold their ground beside the newer work. That ability to move across decades without the performance feeling fragmented is one of A Beast To Praise’s biggest strengths.
“When I’m Gone” adds another emotional shift. At more than six minutes, the song gives the set room to expand and breathe before the band dives back into the more aggressive material.
“Goddess Of Sodomy” brings the attack roaring back. The guitars sound vicious, the drums remain relentless, and DARK FUNERAL delivers the song with the kind of discipline that separates controlled extremity from simple noise.
“Vobiscum Satanas” is one of the album’s essential moments. The track represents an earlier chapter of the band’s career, but nothing about the performance feels dated. Instead, the song sounds as hostile and commanding as ever, reminding the listener just how long DARK FUNERAL has been refining this kind of sonic attack.
“Nail Them To The Cross” maintains that aggression with another punishing performance. The combination of speed, precision, and atmosphere makes the track one of those moments where the band’s live identity becomes impossible to ignore.
“Let The Devil In” introduces a darker, more deliberate pace. The slower movement gives the song a ritualistic quality, allowing tension to build rather than simply overwhelming the listener with speed. That variation helps keep the nearly 70-minute set from becoming one-dimensional.
“The Secrets Of The Black Arts” is a major historical moment in the set. The song reaches all the way back to DARK FUNERAL’s 1996 debut full-length and still sounds dangerous decades later. Hearing material from the band’s formative years performed alongside songs from We Are The Apocalypse reinforces just how consistent the core identity of DARK FUNERAL has remained.
“Where Shadows Forever Reign” closes the album on a suitably monumental note. The track slows the pace and allows atmosphere to dominate, creating a final sense of darkness and scale before the set reaches its conclusion.
What makes A Beast To Praise effective is the balance between live energy and clarity. The production is powerful enough to let every instrument remain distinct without sanding away the aggression of the performance. The guitars retain their sharpness, the drums hit with enormous force, and the crowd remains part of the atmosphere rather than being buried completely beneath the mix.
That clarity matters because DARK FUNERAL is a band built on precision. Lord Ahriman and Chaq Mol create the frozen guitar architecture at the center of the sound, while Adra-Melek and Jalomaah give the songs the low-end force and rhythmic discipline necessary to keep everything from collapsing into chaos. Heljarmadr stands over it all with a vocal performance that sounds authoritative from beginning to end. The current lineup listed by the band consists of Lord Ahriman, Heljarmadr, Chaq Mol, Adra-Melek, and Jalomaah.
There is also real significance behind the night itself. According to Lord Ahriman, the Stockholm performance represented both the live release ritual for We Are The Apocalypse and the band’s return to the stage following the pandemic. That context gives A Beast To Praise more weight than a routine concert recording.
The setlist works equally well as a snapshot of the band’s history. Songs from The Secrets Of The Black Arts, Vobiscum Satanas, Where Shadows Forever Reign, and We Are The Apocalypse sit beside one another without sounding disconnected. Instead, they show how DARK FUNERAL has evolved while maintaining the same core dedication to darkness, speed, atmosphere, and discipline that has defined the band since its formation in Stockholm in 1993.
There are moments where the extremely clean production makes the record feel almost too controlled for a live black metal performance, but that is a minor complaint. What the album loses in grime it gains in clarity, power, and the ability to hear just how tight DARK FUNERAL remains onstage.
A Beast To Praise ultimately does exactly what a strong live album should do. It captures a specific night, preserves the atmosphere of the performance, and gives listeners a compelling cross-section of the band’s catalog without feeling like a greatest-hits collection with crowd noise added afterward.
For longtime fans, this is a powerful document of DARK FUNERAL in their modern era. For anyone who has never experienced the band live, A Beast To Praise offers nearly 70 minutes of evidence explaining why their reputation onstage has endured for more than three decades.
DARK FUNERAL sounds disciplined, violent, atmospheric, and completely in control.
A Beast To Praise is exactly what its title promises: a live document of the beast at full strength.
For more information on DARK FUNERAL, visit:
www.DarkFuneral.se
www.Facebook.com/DarkFuneral
www.Twitter.com/DarkFuneral
www.Instagram.com/DarkFuneralOfficial
www.YouTube.com/@DarkFuneral
www.Spotify.com/Artist/DarkFuneral
