Album Review: Dark Funeral - “Attera Totus Sanctus”

I am but a casual listener of black metal as opposed to say a die-hard fan. So much of the same music comes my way that I’ve come to appreciate artists who are truly brave leaders that create something new and different. Dark Funeral are not those leaders.

Right from the start, Dark Funeral starts their first song with an avalanche of hyper-blast beats. We have the standard high pitched black metal rasp, as well as the speedily picked guitars with the cold, stark tone, all played in a decently produced environment. A promo sticker could easily say that “Attera Totus Sanctus” could be “An endless onslaught that simply won’t let up from start to finish.”, and how true that statement would be. The majority of the album is made up of fast songs that rarely slow down or let up. There are instances of course, but not many. The problem is though, after such a repeated beat down on the listener, one eventually becomes numb to it.

The music itself is completely standard, keyboardless black metal. The main differences with “Attera Totus Sanctus” is that the production is good instead of intentionally poor, and drummer Matte Modin operates at such high speeds.

Dark Funeral are confident Swedish veterans of black metal, but unfortunately, the result is excruciatingly derivative, and highly repetative.

2.5/5

Dark Funeral