Dark Funeral founder Lord Ahriman says the Swedish black metal veterans are almost done writing their next studio album — and that he is struggling to contain his excitement, to the point that his own singer has told him to rein it in.
Speaking to Ed Hackimer of “This Day In Metal“, the guitarist, songwriter and sole founding member, real name Mikael Jan Svanberg, gave an update on the follow-up to 2022’s We Are The Apocalypse, the band’s seventh studio album.
Ahriman made clear the writing is nearly wrapped, even if vocalist Heljarmadr (Andreas Vingbäck) would rather he not say so out loud yet.
He said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“We’re in the end of the writing process. So we almost got it. But when I to talked to Heljarmadr [Dark Funeral vocalist Andreas Vingbäck] about it, he was, like, ‘Don’t f**king jinx it. We’re not there yet.’ But I guess it’s just because I’m so excited. And I know he is too, but he was, like, ‘Take it easy.’ But, yeah, it feels great. We’ve been talking over the past couple of days a lot about how the songs developed, and he is on fire as much as I am. So this feels great. Of course it sucks that we’re not gonna be able to show this for you until next year, but the good thing is that it’s coming, a new studio record, and it’s gonna f**king be killer, that’s for sure.”
That “next year” lines up with what the band has already said publicly: when it announced its upcoming live album in June, Dark Funeral confirmed the next studio record is targeted for 2027.
Ahriman spent much of the conversation on the visual side of the band, which he considers inseparable from the music itself. He explained that he writes with images in his head and wants the live show to match:
“Well, that’s always been part of the black metal movement. There’s always a musical, spiritual and visual side. The visual part of the music style, that’s always been a great part. And I like to be creative both with music but also the visual stuff. When I write music, I see everything as a movie. When I write a song, I see a movie playing in front of me. So that’s why I also wanna bring as much as we can, bring that kind of visual side on stage as well.”
He then laid out his ambitions for the band’s next touring cycle, including a plan he believes no one has attempted quite the way he intends, while being frank about the budget that reins those ideas in:
“We are from the early ’90s era of black metal, and that’s who I am. But at the same time, you don’t just wanna keep on repeating yourself. You still wanna be inspired and find new ways how to do this and present it. And I think we’re planning probably the biggest step we’ve done over the years for the next touring cycle. We have lots of great ideas. We just need to finalize everything. But we came up with some cool ideas how to keep the old school but still kind of bring it into the future but with thought and not just do it without any purpose, because I feel like many bands, they’re just doing it because — because of what? For me, it’s gotta be a deep thought behind it. Why are we doing this? Because if there is, then the impact is gonna be stronger, and you can work on it in a much more interesting way when you’re creative. And I think we have some really cool ideas. It’s been done in certain ways, but I have never seen anybody do it the way I hope we manage to pull it together. And when I presented it to our booking agencies, I was, like, ‘This is really cool. This is something new, and it’s totally on another level.’ So, yeah, I like that part of being in Dark Funeral too. Not just the music — I like the visual, creative side of that too. But, of course, everything is super expensive. We’re still not a super-rich band. So there’s a budget that limits us from going all in. But we’re working on trying to do as much as we can of all the crazy ideas we have… That’s one of the thing that also keeps this interesting for us. As I said, I don’t wanna just keep on repeating and do the same thing like I’ve done for 30 years. It’s gotta be interesting and inspiring for me also and the other guys to keep doing this.”
Before the new studio record lands, there is another release to come. Dark Funeral will put out a live album, A Beast To Praise, on August 21, 2026 through Century Media Records. Recorded at Fållan in Stockholm in 2022, it captures the band’s return to the stage after the pandemic and their live celebration of We Are The Apocalypse, spanning 13 tracks across roughly 70 minutes. The first taste, a live video for “The Arrival Of Satan’s Empire“, is already out.
We Are The Apocalypse charted across Europe on release, reaching No. 6 in Germany, No. 13 in Finland, No. 28 in Switzerland, No. 29 in Austria and No. 31 in Sweden.
The live album ties directly into what comes next on stage. This autumn, Dark Funeral join the “In League With Satan” European tour alongside Behemoth and Dimmu Borgir.
Dark Funeral was founded in 1993 by Ahriman and Blackmoon, and its current lineup pairs Ahriman and Chaq Mol on guitars with Heljarmadr on vocals, Adra-Melek on bass and Jalomaah on drums.
