Dämmerung der Szenarien

With this album, Imperium Dekadenz unleashes unforgettable and perfect black metal. At the core of their somber tone are crunchy guitar riffs that range in style but mostly plod along in mid-tempo groove and sorrow. The distortion they use gives the album a unique sound in that it is much heavier than other black metal albums yet still just as crunchy. Floating above these rhythm guitars are passionate lead-lines and great medium-high black metal vocals. The lead lines are recorded in a slightly different fashion—a little cleaner—which helps them stand out from the rhythm guitars because your ear can pick them up even in their slightly lower volume.

Some songs like “Nebelbrandung” have strange-sounding keyboard melodies that add nicely without taking over, and the regular accompanying keys are always soft enough that they do not distract from the guitars.

The undistorted sections of the album really bring it up a notch. They are filled with excellent atmosphere—sometimes more folky and at other times more classical sounding. The acoustic song “Harmatia” serves as a nice intermission from black metal but it still feels connected to the rest of the album because of the other acoustic sections.

The album never dives into evil or nightmarish black metal which I appreciate a lot. In the end the album feels like a sorrowful folk excursion. The album draws to a close with the great song “The Night Whispers to the Wise” which ends with an extremely peaceful section that serenades you in sadness. The last minutes of the album are taken by a beautiful piano piece called “Waiting” which allows you to reflect on how great the album was.