Band:	Décembre Noir
Album:	Your Sunset / My Sunrise
Style:	Death doom metal
Release date:	October 2023

01. Dead End
02. Against The Daylight
03. Your Sunset | My Sunrise
04. Sentimental Giants
05. Sleepwalker - In Yesterday's Smoke
06. Trivial Heart

Through Your Sunset / My Sunrise, Décembre Noir offer a glimmer of hope and tranquillity to those whose souls will inevitably succumb to the dark, doomy winter.

Décembre Noir are a German death doom group that formed back in 2008, with a line-up featuring Sebastian Görlach (guitars), Martin Ortlepp (guitars), Lars Dotzauer (vocals), Stephan Hünniger (bass), and Fabian Regmann (drums). The band have followed up their impressive 2014 debut A Discouraged Believer with what is now four further albums, including their latest effort titled Your Sunset / My Sunrise. That's the band's history, but how do they sound? Well, traditional death doom is the primary source: think Saturnus, Draconian, and early Katatonia for examples. If those bands appeal to you, then this latest release by Décembre Noir will definitely meet your death doom needs, that I can promise you.

I will start by saying, 2023 has definitely had its share of fine death doom releases, with the likes of Fires In The Distance, Shores Of Null, On Thorns I Lay, October Tide and The Crawling all delivering some of the top releases, not only in death doom, but in metal as a whole this year. Still, believe me when I tell you that Your Sunset / My Sunrise is right up there with the best of them. In terms of traditional death doom, this is an album that features everything a fan of the genre could ask for, from deep, emotive, agonizing growls, occasionally accompanied by lyrically poetic, passionate cleans (all in the vein of the mighty Saturnus), to traditional mid-to-slow-tempo heavy doom riffs, and sweeping melancholic guitar leads that are nothing short of excellent. All this is then driven along by heavy pounding drumming beats and bass lines from a more-than-competent rhythm section, and the atmospheric build-ups really help bring the album's emotionally charged soundscapes to life.

All these elements I mentioned are evident on the opening track "Dead End", which early on shows the band's impressive songwriting abilities. There is nothing complex or original about this track's structure, but they certainly don't hold back on passion and melody, and this continues to surge through the following five songs. I want to now skip forward to the fifth track (without faulting the songs in between, which are great in their own way) titled "Sleepwalker (In Yesterday's Smoke)". This, for me, is a highlight on the album, beginning in a more up-tempo manner than of the previous songs and containing one of the album's most memorable riff patterns. However, it's when the tempo begins to slow that I find the track to be at its most impressive; the melodies and melancholic soundscapes at this point are a marvel to behold.

Another song of note, "Sentimental Giants", begins with a beautifully constructed acoustic melody, which gently builds up before unleashing all those heavy death doom elements. Mid-way through, the tempo comes to a halt once again, and you're then met by more-or-less the same melodic acoustic pattern, but this time with the introduction of some impressively emotive cleans, before everything then builds back up once again, and finishes with a powerful rhythm and striking leads. The closing track "Trivial Heart" is just as striking in the melody department, where once again the gentle sweeping melancholic leads and heavy doomy riffs work together in perfect harmony, closing the album off just as strongly as it begins.

There's one thing you simply can't deny, and that's the album's great consistency, even if perhaps some of the riffs become repetitive. If you're looking for a death doom album that ventures outside the box, experimenting with other elements and genre fusions, then you won't find anything of the sort here; there's nothing complex or original about the album's structure. However, if you simply want some top-quality death doom that can emotionally captivate you with some outstanding melodies whilst featuring all-round excellent musical performances, then Your Sunset / My Sunrise is one of the best the sub-genre has to offer this year.