Swedish black / death metallers DARK FUNERAL have issued the following message from leader Lord Ahriman:

"The dawn of a new dark era has risen, and a new hellish chapter has begun.

Despite the circumstances, I must say that the band and I are extremely motivated and excited to start a new chapter in the saga that is Dark Funeral. We've already have some killer plans for the future. And all I can say at this point is that we'll be moving forward with full force and without mercy.

Those of you who've followed Dark Funeral since the beginning in 1993, surly know that this is not the first time we've undergone a major lineup change. And whatever some people may have thought or whined about, no one can deny the fact that I/we've always succeeded in recruiting new and amazing musicians to move forward and reach new heights with the band. There is absolutely no doubt in our mind that this will again be the case.

On August 21st we performed our last show with Emperor Magus Caligula at the Summer Breeze Festival in Germany. Since this was a very special performance in many ways, we not only put on our biggest pyro show ever, we also captured this gig with 10 cameras (including 1 crane). So you can be sure to expect a DVD release from this killer show in the near future. More info regarding the DVD will come in due time...

Since parting ways with E.M.Caligula, it come as no surprise to the rest of us, that B-Force would follow the same path and throw in his towel too. So I wish to thank him for the six fantastic years he'd been with us on bass. It’s been a pleasure indeed working together.

Said B-Force of his decision to leave the band: 'After six awesome and crazy years with Dark Funeral, I have decided to leave the band. It's my own decision to leave one of the best band/friends in the world, but I feel that I need to move forward in life and do something else music-wise. There are absolutely NO hard feelings between me and Dark Funeral. We are and will continue to be good friends! I want to thank the band and all the fans all over the world. You kick ass everywhere I've been playing with the band. I thank you all. May the dark forces be with you." - B-Force

We have already found a new and totally amazing bassist; a bassist who lives and breathes Dark Funeral in its purest form. And we couldn't be more honored to have him onboard. We will however wait until everything is settled before we present him to all of you, so please be patient.

Since announcing the departure of Caligula, we've been overwhelmed with vocal applicants. Among them are a couple of very strong candidates. However, since we feel no hurry to fill the position, we'll continue the search to make sure that when we eventually hire someone, it be someone who totally blows away everything in his path.

If you do believe that you have what it takes for the job, we are still accepting vocal applications. Send us a brief introduction and some audio / video files/links of your vocal performance to: vocalist@darkfuneral.se.

From now until we have found and installed a new vocalist, we will keep ourselves busy rehearsing and working on material for a new full-length. Rest assured that as soon as the new lineup is complete, we'll continue to tour the world in usual Dark Funeral manner.

More news to come."

Fan-filmed footage of Dark Funeral, shot at Summer Breeze Open Air 2010 (August 19th - 21st in Dinkelsbühl, Germany), the band's final show with departing singer Emperor Magus Caligula, can be seen below. More clips can be found on the band's YourTube channel.