IMPERIUM DEKADENZ — Meadows of Nostalgia (review)

IMPERIUM DEKADENZ — Meadows of Nostalgia album cover Album · 2013 · Atmospheric Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
J-Man
The bleak, wooded landscape shown on the cover of Meadows of Nostalgia is a fairly accurate summation of what one should expect from German black metal act Imperium Dekadenz's fourth full length offering; although it is a strongly melancholic and often times abject journey, the album's epic atmospheres always provide the listener with a small glimmer of hope. Meadows of Nostalgia is a very introverted observation for sure, but black metal fans with a liking for the nature-inspired segment of the genre will likely be stunned by what Imperium Dekadenz has to offer.

I've yet to familiarize myself with the earlier material from this German black metal duo, but the music on Meadows of Nostalgia strikes me as a more melancholic, depressive, and epic version of Norwegian black metal acts like Mayhem and Darkthrone without quite diving into the shoegazing of Fen or the dark ambiance of Burzum. Imperium Dekadenz certainly have their own place in the black metal genre, although their music does not sound out of place when put alongside other nature-inspired or Pagan acts like Wolves in the Throne Room or Drudkh. Most of Meadows of Nostalgia is reflective and melodic, yet still lethal by all means, old school black metal, but there are also a handful of acoustic segments like "Durch das Tor" and "Memoria" that keep the album from settling into monotony. Most of the other tracks also have a softer edge as well, particularly "Der Unweg" with its stunning undistorted guitar melodies.

Meadows of Nostalgia's more 'standard' black metal tracks are incredibly epic in structure; this is the sort of music that just keeps building and building, and Imperium Dekadenz manages to convey these climatic atmospheres while still sounding musically sophisticated. Horaz and Vespasian have really put together a phenomenal black metal observation with Meadows of Nostalgia, and I can assure you that this will be something I revisit again the future. Very highly recommended!
Share this review

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Rise of the Black Fang Metalcore
KILLGRAVE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Die for Us Technical Death Metal
WEREWOLVES
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

ScapeGoat Official Lyric Video
FIREFLAME
Bosh66· 14 hours ago
Fervence - The Silent Wall
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 14 hours ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us