Tag: ImperiumDekadenz

2023 Best of Metal: #18 Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore

Release date: 1/20/2023

Origin: Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany

Personnel: Horaz-vox/guitar/keyboards, Vespasian-drums/guitars/bass/keyboards

You’re going to want to pour yourself a drink and settle into an easy chair with this one. Preferably, you should listen to it on a drizzly or overcast day with a nice chill in the air. Probably get a fire going in the fireplace. Because this is an atmospheric black metal album that is both parts bleak and beautiful at the same time. These guys have made a prior year end list and, in my opinion, are crafting some of the best black metal going these days. Maybe its because they are from right next to the Black Forest in Germany, but the atmosphere on this one is just thick and dark. Great guitar sound and an intense layering of sounds on this one.

4 flip flops out of 5

The list so far:

18. Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore
19. Royal Thunder-Rebuilding the Mountain
20. Katatonia-Sky Void of Stars

Imperium Dekadenz-Into Sorrow Evermore

I love how different subgenres in metal can be further divided down into even more particular sub-subgenres. Case in point with black metal. Sure, you’ve got your traditional Norwegian black metal that is primitive to the core and generally sounds as if it was recorded in a cavern. You’ve got your NWOBHM inspired traditional metal with black metal vibes ala Mercyful Fate and Venom. And then you’ve got what I feel is the black metal obsessed with nature and loss. This sub-subgenre is most closely associated with the Pacific Northwest U.S. I honestly find this version of black metal the most intriguing because it combines the best of the harshness and the beauty of the natural world. Imperium Dekadenz first crept on to my radar a few years ago and they perfectly capture this kind of metal. For the uninitiated, it probably seems very rough and harsh. But if you listen closer, there is such a beauty in these bleak aural landscapes. The music simply encapsulates the moments of loss and the ever present majesty of the mountains and forests of the world. This one is definitely more of an introspective put-in-on-in-a-darkened-room-by-yourself kind of album than a party pleaser.

3.5 flip flops out of 5