Dark Funeral

Sweden's Dark Funeral has been practicing the black arts of black metal for over a decade now. Formed in '93, the band has gone through the requisite ten zillion lineup changes, but the main guys -- guitarist Lord Ahriman and singer Emperor Magus Caligula -- never left the fold, which is important. That means you won't be seeing the Spin Doctors playing Dark Funeral songs. It also means they are for-real musicians. So you can rest assured that their live show will not only give you a bloody earful of genuine Swedish metal, but the experience will actually damn your eternal soul to hell . . . forever.

Sure, black metal might've peaked in Europe in '95 or so, but it's enjoying a resurgence here in the States, what with such bands as Lamb of God selling a version of the music to major labels. And Dark Funeral remains one of the genre's major players, releasing such relevant music as 2001's Diabolis Interium, as well as the jam "Goddess of Sodomy" in particular. So yeah, serious metal dudes have been waiting months for this show, but anyone unfamiliar with the band should know this: Dark Funeral plays loud and fast and wears corpse paint. With scraping, wraith-like vocals and a wall of blurring guitars, these good times are recommended to fans of mass murder, paganism, and George Bush.