DARK FUNERAL guitarist Lord Ahriman (Mikael Jan Svanberg) has confirmed the Swedish black metal band is putting the finishing touches on songwriting for its next studio album, the follow-up to 2022's "We Are The Apocalypse."
"I'm so excited," Ahriman said of the new material, adding bluntly, "it's gonna fucking be killer." While he stopped short of confirming a release date or timeline, the update marks the clearest sign yet that DARK FUNERAL is actively moving toward new music after "We Are The Apocalypse" extended a run that has made the band one of the most enduring names in Scandinavian black metal since forming in Stockholm in 1993.
Ahriman has remained the band's sole constant member across numerous lineup changes over more than three decades, steering DARK FUNERAL's uncompromising, blast-beat-driven sound through a catalog that helped define the genre's more aggressive, less symphonic wing alongside contemporaries like MARDUK and WATAIN. That continuity has kept expectations high whenever the band signals movement on new material, and Ahriman's unusually direct enthusiasm here suggests the songwriting has progressed further than typical early-stage updates from the band.
No further details on the album's title, tracklist, producer or label were disclosed alongside Ahriman's comments, leaving DARK FUNERAL's timeline for the follow-up to "We Are The Apocalypse" still an open question. What is clear from Ahriman's remarks is that the band considers the new writing sessions a genuine step forward rather than a routine continuation, positioning the still-unnamed record as one of the more anticipated updates to come out of the extreme metal underground this year.
With songwriting reportedly nearing completion, DARK FUNERAL's next studio chapter appears to be moving from private development toward a more public rollout, giving longtime fans their first concrete reason to expect new material sooner rather than later.