Dark Funeral "Vobiscum Satanas" Cassette

DARK FUNERAL’s second full length Vobiscum Satanas from 1998 finally available again on limited music cassette.

MC limited to 350 black tapes, 5 panel J-card.

Dark Funeral´s self titled EP was a promising prelude. So the next logical step was to strive for perfection on the following full-lengths. And lo and behold, "The Secrets of the Black Arts" marked a milestone in their development while "Vobiscum Satanas" was simply perfect. The Swedish brigade unleashed such a storm of black metal that most of the similar music making bands were endangered to be blown away by this elemental power. The combination of the vigorous and sinister production and the fast and furious compositions opened the possibility to have a very intensive acoustical experience. From the first second of the merciless opener "Ravenna Strigoi Mortii" you dived deeply into a world of impenetrable darkness where four Scandinavian demons incessantly haunted you. But the opener just marked the first of eight excellent tracks. Due to the overwhelming overall impression, it is not easy to highlight details. Nevertheless, let´s try it.
Dark Funeral delivered an enormous sound density without leaving the realistic possibility of withdrawal. The music embraced you violently. This was primarily a result of the awesome ambiance. Of course, they also created outstanding riffs, but they were not an end in themselves. They served to form the grim and threatening melody lines that were aggressive and atmospheric at the same time while being supported by the tight and flawless rhythm section. The demonic vocals also played their part in making this album outstanding. The title track was provided with a vocal performance that differed from the rest. The voice was far lower while offering a diabolic sprechgesang. Perhaps it was Satan himself, who knows? However, the title track was part of a raging triple strike that awaited the listener at the end. A lot of bands release albums where the last songs are significantly weaker than the first ones. But although "Ravenna Strigoi Mortii" could surely be considered as a fantastic opener, the greatest highlights were surprisingly concentrated at the end.
"The Black Winged Horde" was equipped with the frostiest guitar lines, accurate tempo changes and a more or less melodious solo that was contrasted by inhuman growls. As said above, the title track seemed to be inspired by Satan himself. Finally, "Ineffable King of Darkness" was a very fitting conclusion of the album in respect of its high speed rhythm and the increasingly insane screaming at the end. The guy with the sweet pseudonym Emperor Magus Caligula seemed to be close to collapsing. But I have to be honest this is precisely what I typically expect from a black metal artist. To express it in the words of Holy Moses, it is about "Strength Power Will Passion". Generally I also expect a well elaborated cover, but we cannot have it all. So what? The suboptimal cover was only of minor importance and it could be positively mentioned that the digipak offered also atmospheric pictures of forested ridges. Ultimately, the only thing that counts was and still is the phenomenal hyper-speed music. Back in 1998, only Marduk´s "Nightwing" achieved the level of "Vobiscum Satanas" in terms of Swedish black metal.

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