Implosions

Decemberance are a death/doom band hailing from Greece. They have already been formed in 1997 but their speed of releasing music is more or less in line with the tempo of a funeral doom act when working their instruments. One full length in 2009, one in 2017 and number three in 2023. After having listened to their latest output “Implosions” this does not necessarily come as surprise as they really pack a lot of stuff into their music. More than 70 minutes of total playing time is what you get with this record and while I would not describe the music as complicated or overly progressive, but you need the right mindset and a bit of patience to get yourself fully immersed within this album.

Structurally, “Implosions” stands out for its uncommon pacing: two bookending death/doom monoliths with 25 respectively over 37 minutes tower above an instrumental piece at the center, presenting pure emotions consisting of mournful solemnity and mostly calm reflection. Opener “Scaffold” is warm and welcoming, guitars glowing gold and shimmering, but from that calm emerge some deep growls and some pummeling drums, alternating with sections which are gorgeous and full of halcyon serenity. The sound of this track is reverberant and foggy, the atmosphere sad to downright oppressive, with guitar melodies that seem lost in the jumble of sounds being just as decisive for mood changes as a decidedly lively rhythm variation. Certain themes and shades are taken up again and again, supplemented with details or slightly altered. Inevitably, you get caught up in the maelstrom and let yourself drift.

Instrumental “The Blue Thread” further dives into the melancholic feelings developed by the violin and the piano melodies, setting the stage for the big final “Shrouds”. As you would expect, the band takes a lot of time here to really stretch out every idea of songwriting. Riffs are repeated over and over again and put the listener in a trance-like state before surprising tempo changes cause surprised attention and appreciative nodding. Inevitably, some listeners may get bored with the massively long playing time and the mostly rather mid- or even doom-tempo oriented music – for fans of the genre, on the other hand, this brew goes down wonderfully. What Decemberance simply manage better than many of their colleagues, who also try their hand at these sprawling and crawling works, is the flow and the feeling that you are following an incredibly well-thought-out overall work.

The musicians are all on impressive display across the board, with every member shining independently while the band shines as a whole. Some of the leads add an additional sense of murky darkness to doomy passages, with subtly dissonant and exotic motions that increase the listener’s overall immersion in the album’s soundscape. Despite the slow and atmospheric parts being the main attraction Decemberance are not afraid to occasionally go for the blast-beat barrage. “Implosions" is a very well-constructed work that conforms to the doom-death genre and whose creators will achieve even more in the future if their current qualities are taken as a benchmark. Lovers of such sounds should definitely check out the record. Rounded off by a gripping cover artwork and a production with a good balance of clarity and grit genre fans should not be disappointed.