Entry 170 - Dark Funeral - The Secrets of the Black Arts

 

When you think of black metal what comes to mind? Fast paced drums, tremolo picking, satanic lyrics, shrieking vocals? That's what I think of for a generic black metal band.

With that in mind this is some of the most generic black metal I've ever heard. Fast riffs, blast beats, lyrics from hell, blast beats, a whaling banshee on vocals, and more blast beats. The thing is... every stereotype has to start somewhere.

When Dark Funeral released their debut there were a lot fewer black metal bands. Less so that dedicated their entire sound to just speed and violence. Dark Funeral was one of the first to do this.

Within these 11 tracks some of the defining roots for black metal were laid. Many, many bands that would enter into this genre owe a lot to the sound found on Secret of the Black Arts.

While I personally don't like this album as much as the follow up, there is no denying how influential Dark Funeral's debut is. Every sound has its start, and as for black metal and stereotypes... this is one of the finest examples of the style done right.