Some German black metal bands had always a punchy sound, within a deep strength that breaks through the darkness and penetrates the soul of the listener. One of those bands that helped developing that kind of sound was Imperium Dekadenz, and 3 years after the previous release they return with their 5th album “Dis Manibvs”.
Right from the start hearing the song “Only Fragments of Light”, the listener can get the feeling that he will hear from there on something different and attractive through the grimness that the band used the fans. Singing in English, the strength of the songs is still intact has we’ll hear in “Still I Rise”, “Dis Manibvs”, “Vae Victis”, and “Pure Nocturnal Rome” for example.
“Volcano” has a stunning chorus and probably is one of the best songs the band ever written. “Pantheon Spells”, and “Somnia”, are also beautiful intros worth listening, as we’ll hear that they create a melancholic break in an album balancing in between heaviness and melody, which ends with “Seikilos”, that has a majestic riff.
The mixing and mastering was done by Christoph Brandes, who did also the recording along with Vespasian, and Horaz. If the listener is looking for a shoegaze influenced black metal album, with loud guitars, screams from a dark cave, and a sense of light that never gets closer, no matter how far we get deep in the tunnel, this release might be an interesting proposal for you.
