Band:	Imperium Dekadenz
Album:	Into Sorrow Evermore
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	January 2023

01. Into Sorrow Evermore
02. Truth Under Stars
03. Aurora
04. Elysian Fields
05. Forests In Gale
06. Awakened Beyond Dreams
07. November Monument
08. Memories ... A Raging River

Looking for some black metal to satisfy your gloomy dismal mood this winter month? Then Imperium Dekadenz's Into Sorrow Evermore could provide the perfect blackened recipe for such a thing.

Germany may not have the most well known black metal scene out there, not when compared with what the likes of nations such as Poland, Greece, Finland, Sweden, and Norway have produced, but that's not to mean that Germany is short of a spectacular black metal act or two, and Imperium Dekadenz are certainly amongst the finest black metal acts to come out of that very nation.

Imperium Dekadenz is a duo consisting of members Vespasian (guitars, bass, drums, keyboards) and Horaz (guitars, keyboards, vocals), with both musicians bringing an impressive array of instrumental skills, synth work and highly effective vox. The case here on their impressive seventh release Into Sorrow Evermore is no exception. The duo's impressive performance abundantly shows on this album, which contains just about everything a modern day black metal album can ask for; standards are set high from the beginning and maintained throughout, with heavily saturated instrumental layering, dark melancholic soundscapes, richly enchanting hypnotic riff melodies, effective blast beating, and harsh emotive howls and shrieks, all of which is produced in an impressively satisfying manner.

This release, however, does differ in a noticable way from your typical modern standard black metal release, specifically their melancholic approach to things. Instrumentally there may not necessarily be anything that stands out, or that hasn't been done before as such, but there is a feeling of great despair, overwhelming emptiness, and impending doom that surrounds the musical soundscape, an emotive experience that isn't necessarily in DSBM territory, or even anything to be considered atmospheric black, but the light synth work, passionate shrieking howls, and weeping guitar tone are all highly effective in creating this dismal, dark melancholic sound.

Although each track on the album, in general, has a similar flow, sound and structure, there are several songs that stand out for me above most, one of which is "Elysian Fields", a heavy track that I find captures the dark, gloomy melancholic ambience most. "November Monument", with its hypnotic melodious riff pattern that I find to be memorable, and the epic blackened closer "A Ranging River" are other highlights for me, but there are many more standout moments throughout that you can personally take your pick from.

It's early days in this year's black metal calendar, but Imperium Dekadenz have set the genre off to a flier that hopefully continues as the year progresses. It's also likely that Into Sorrow Evermore may be a difficult album to be matched, in terms of melancholic black metal at least.