This year’s Meadows of Nostalgia by Imperium Dekadenz was a release that took me by complete surprise. Not only did the album astonish me, but this was also the first exposure I had with the band. Like most great musical discoveries, I tend to go over the deep end and listen to just about everything a band has done, point and case with Imperium Dekadenz. Being an avid black metal fan, their latest album for 2013 was probably one of the best I’ve heard this year. As a matter of fact, they may be one of the finest sounding black metal bands I’ve had the pleasure of listening to in a long time next to Australia’s Aquilus. So after soaking deep into Meadows of Nostalgia, I decided to go back and visit their well-received album Dämmerung Der Szenarien from 2007.

The first three minutes play as a nice introduction to the album representing an ambient feeling to start things off. The immense track Der Dolch Im Gewande follows immediately after showing us that Imperium Dekadenz has some of the most intelligent sounding black metal riffs among their genre brethren. For those who may find the genre of black metal to be a blast beating headache from doom, Imperium Dekadenz may pose as a better band to become acquainted with. Drumming tends to be simple and yet still so powerful due in part to the great guitar writing this album has a lot of. Expressively driven guitars with still a great sense of black metal brutality makes this album feel special for sure as the same feeling applies to this band. The main title track Dämmerung Der Szenarien is a great instrumental piece with acoustic guitars and goes to show that with their song writing goes above and beyond what I think most black metal bands do today.

There was always something to look forward to in Dämmerung Der Szenarien as each track rolled by; I kept finding the atmosphere of the album heightened. The track Nebelbrandung began with a very brief choir that easily could accompany any fantasy film or game. The use of choirs is something I wish Imperium Dekadenz would use more frequently in their albums as they always are put in very well to make these tracks especially memorable. But it is really difficult to not refer to this album as a great memorable experience overall. The best experience comes towards the albums end with the last three tracks which are no doubt superb in sound. Reich Der Fahlen Seelen and The Night Whispers to the Wise really capture the soul that is Imperium Dekadenz. A band that rides of the rails of being melodic, ambient, and a just all around great black metal sound, Imperium Dekadenz is a band I found myself easily attaching to. The most stand-out song on the album, The Night Whispers to the Wise, is a lengthy piece that’s for sure, but an addictive and nonetheless intellectual sounding piece of black metal. The album ends with a great piano instrumental piece entitled Waiting, which goes to show that Imperium Dekadenz likes to take black metal to a more meaningful and lovely sound.

It seems to be that there is no real bad place to start with Imperium Dekadenz. Their music is one that strives to be epic, melancholic, and brutal all in the same light. With the black metal genre, it’s hard to find anything that could be described as beautiful instead of brutal, but Imperium Dekadenz delivers just that. The smart song writing that surrounds this band is easy to fall in love with, and in recent years, their sound has only matured to greater elevations. For only releasing four full lengths to this day, they sure have my full attention, and I hope to see many more great and wonderful things to come from them in the future.