Decline Of The I – Wilhelm
Release Date: 14th February 2025
Label: Agonia Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Post-Black Metal, Avant-Garde Black Metal, Atmospheric Black Metal.
FFO: Blut aus Nord, Dødheimsgard, Deathspell Omega, The Ruins of Beverast.
Review By: Rick Farley
Admittedly, I am brand new to France’s Decline Of The I and their brand of philosophic post-black metal. Typically, whenever there’s a band that I’m unfamiliar with, it’s usually chosen by me for review based solely on one single. In this case, that single was L’ Alliance Des Rats. An absolute stunner of nightmarish darkness and foul menace. Personally, it leans more towards traditional to modern black metal and blackened death metal than it does post-black metal. There are flourishes of atmospheric chants and progressive elements, but nothing that necessarily points towards the avant-garde nature this album actually becomes. On the surface, this track sounds influenced by the black metal that’s been coming out of Poland in the last few years. It’s dark toned, tortured, maniacal and brutal, while still having ferocious melody. There are plenty of moments where Behemoth comes to mind. Little did I know that the rest of the record and the bands discography is far more musically diverse than what brought me to choose this to review in the first place.
First and foremost, I’m a bit of a black metal junkie, I’m trve without being an elitist snob. I love old and modern black metal, 2nd wave, Hellenic, symphonic, post, and on and on. If it’s “blackened” I will give it a chance, of course that doesn’t mean I like everything, but I’m incredibly open-minded is what I’m getting at. Which brings us to Decline Of The I’s newest record Wilhelm, out February 14th, 2025, via Agonia Records.
The reason I’m mentioning all of this in this manner, is that I may have mis chosen this time. Not because of quality or songcraft, but because of unknown elements that are not entirely in my wheelhouse. Which doesn’t happen a lot, but here we are. It’s noticeably clear that the black metal on Wilhelm is absolutely brutal and very enjoyable, but for me, it ventures into musical spaces that are just not my thing, which dampers my personal experience. Let me explain.
There are a ton of spoken word passages, both male and female that often break up the extreme from the softer passages. I’m not sure of the ratio of spoken word to actual vocals, but it seems like a lot. There are also moments of trip-hop and electronic beats that come out of nowhere, completely derailing the harsh atmosphere that was present just seconds before. There are moments of industrial and progressive weirdness that’s not quite in line with the other parts of the record, that to me feels rather unfocused. Now mind you I have nothing against any of that stuff, and love plenty of bands who utilize those sounds, but for me personally, all together this particular record is not a successful sound that vibes with me. For someone who already knows this band, it would be safe to say that they will probably fucking love it. The production, the songwriting, the execution, it all seems top-notch and the black metal itself, although it’s stretched a bit thin genre wise in several directions, does feel epic and alluringly evil.
So, there you have it, a review that means absolutely nothing, I wasn’t a big fan of Wilhelm, but I can truly see where others will be, so even though I usually say, “check this out for yourself,” it especially applies this time. Also, if you’re on the fence about the post-black metal label, it’s most definitely not post sounding in what most would think of when using the term post-black metal. Vicious progressive black metal: that works.
(3 / 5)
