Imperium Dekadenz – Into Sorrow Evermore
Release Date: 20th January 2023
Label: Napalm Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Black Metal, Atmospheric Black Metal, Post Black Metal, Doom.
FFO: Drudkh, Taake, Wolves in the Throne Room.
Review By: Rick Farley
Southwestern Germany’s dark lords of atmospheric black metal return with full length album number seven, Into Sorrow Evermore, releasing on the always excellent Napalm Records. Inspired by Norwegian black metal traditions, the band incorporates the raw, visceral style of these masters and surpasses with their own dark, atmospheric compositions. Just two musicians make up Imperium Dekadenz. Horaz handling guitars, keyboards, and vocals while Vespasian handles guitars, bass, keyboards, and drums. Both are incredibly talented, displayed masterfully by their hyper focused songwriting. The album draws influence from the familiarity of raw black metal, but does it with a sense of bewitching post black metal. It’s a combination that works extremely well, resulting in a fresh sound of refined, savage gloominess. Walls of oppressing guitars and sprawling dread as a musical backdrop to raspy growls, ensure the listener is entranced by the sorrowed yet majestic music. Themes of depression, death, and desperation ring out in the lyrics, adding depth to the harrowing journey you’re now engrossed in.
Album opener and title track Into Sorrow Evermore sets the tone immediately. Swells of guitar drift beautifully into doomy tremolo picked vehemence. The density is swarming with a buzzsaw fuzzy distortion, never relenting its intensity, but still maintaining a sense of despair. Drums switch between blasting and groove, while the low-end remains aggressive and vocals cavernous. The melodies are tragic with the slightest bit of hopefulness to them. This track promises an immersive experience that fully delivers, sounding like you’re immersed in a magnificent snowstorm with little hope of escaping. Brutal and cold, but implacably alluring.
Aurora starts hauntingly with only a simple piano melody. The surging bass, metallic atmospheric guitars and a basic mid-tempo drum beat that follow are intoxicating. Synths enhance parts of the song, ranging from eerily ghostly to darkly exquisite. The textures are lush and instantly noticeable, but leave this on in the background, and it seeps in even further. There’s something very cerebral about its ethereal darkness by candlelight soundscapes. Horaz screams, wails, and uses spoken word to amplify its brooding nature. A tranquil guitar solo takes its delicate melodies, further complementing the ambience.
Memories … a Raging River brings the black metal hellfire with icy cold riffs and furious drum blasting. Shimmering guitar riffs heavily picked shift between moods of high energy and nightmarish cascades. A doomy atmosphere lies just beneath the wicked guitars. Like mimicking life, it goes from youthful raging to slowly fading itself into a quiet melancholy of completion. Slow and dissonant guitar leads drift into dreamy synths and weepy acoustics. It slowly dims as a tragic reminder that there’s not always a radiant ending.
Imperium Dekadenz creates an incredible balance between dark and light. Furious black metal offset by swaths of hopeful melodies in between immense sorrow. The production is purposefully murky and suffocating, coming into a clearer focus after a few listens. Into Sorrow Evermore is an album that begs to be heard in its entirety with multiple times. Engaging, dark and utterly dread filled. Wave after wave of emotional black metal with large doses of doomy atmosphere. It’s rewarding yet punishing, hideous yet beautiful. Your attention is held equally by self-reflection and yearning. The entirety of the album gives a sense of closure to something unexplainable. A must listen. 
(4.5 / 5)
