I find it intensely gratifying to listen to a bands entire discography whether they have three or 13 albums; at the time of writing I’m currently working through Sodom chronologically. I did just this with Germany’s Imperium Dekadenz whose four full lengths span half a decade or so. The band is not unfamiliar to me as I bought, yes bought, their last album “Procella Vadens” from 2010 as like this new album I was completely immersed in their ability to draw you in with their music. This fourth release is a real tour de force that encapsulates the bands three previous albums into one breathtaking and magnificent opus. Opus is appropriate here as the duo comprising Imperium Dekadenz, namely Vespasian and Horaz, have recorded an album that is as beautifully melancholic as it is sadistically menacing. The production afforded is gloriously harsh with the guitar carving through the glacial harmonies with exquisite poise.
Opening with the sublimely eerie “Durch Das Tor” with its subtle acoustic guitar before “Brigobannis” bursts into chilly resurrected life with a monster riff and an almost Viking like beat to the drum work. The biting crisp guitar riffing is something that this album is saturated with to the point of crystallisation; each one feels like it is drilling anaesthetised holes into your brain. For the black metal purist this album probably lacks the blasting ferocity required but when you think back to the early 90s and bands like Dissection, Burzum, early Enslaved, early Satyricon to name a few their albums were peppered with massively melodic sections that made their albums so special, and that is exactly what we have here. Two guys whose creativity hasn’t quite reached its pinnacle but like a precarious journey through pack ice and unpredictable glaciers Imperium Dekadenz’s journey is making solid sturdy progress.
The epic “Aue Der Nostalgie” begins more quickly with more hypnotising riffs and harmonies as the multi layered technique crafts tunes that are just so enriching on the ear. My point of the early 90s is manifested here perfectly with Dissection like harmonies transposed atop a multifaceted rhythm section. I absolutely adored “Ave Danuvi” with the powerful uniform vocal chanting sending a shiver down my spine alongside the funereal like atmosphere; this really is going to be one of my favourite songs of 2013 with no shadow of a doubt. All Imperium albums are linked by emphatically enthralling acoustic sections that create that mystical auditory magical ingredient that melodic black metal requires and this album is a demonstration in how to in this genre without wimping out.
Equally mesmerising is “Aura Silvae”, which is preceded by the stunning acoustic interlude “Memoria”, and possesses a haunting groove I’ve not heard in a long time, apart from old Darkthrone albums maybe. The song is so engaging that I stopped note making as I sat back in total awe at what I was listening to. The ghoulish and grandiose “Der Unweg” has touches of very old Satyricon and Enslaved with that spine tingling ethos embedded into the fabric of the song. The mournful passages on the epic “Striga” struck heavily with Burzum (pre banged up material) with that lolling gloomy feel permeating the song. Closing this exceptional album is “Tränen Des Bacchus” a slower tune initially rife with addictive guitar hooks and melody. There is a sweeping majesty about this song that summarises the album so supremely well that after numerous listens I can honestly say I keep hearing new things to grab hold of and take me on another journey each time I listen to it and I look forward to plenty more. This was close to getting the exalted ten mark but because I expect this band to deliver something truly unbelievable with album number five in the not too distant future I hope I go as close as I can get but for intent and purpose it is a ten.
Imperium Dekadenz may have slipped by your attention in the last five or six years but I guarantee that once you hear this you will seek out their back catalogue.
(9.5/10 Martin Harris)
http://www.imperium-dekadenz.de
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Imperium-Dekadenz-official/255799546239
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