It’s late March and winter has yet to vacate the Northeast. Global warming insinuations are cast aside, while camouflage shorts remain locked in storage. If this is the eternal winter black metal has long predicted, then a quality soundtrack must be in order. It must be frost-bitten, adverse to salt and snow-shoveling; ample enough to embitter an Eskimo, or frustrate the most ardent of outdoorsmen. It cannot come from North America, for Cascadian climates are too mild. It has to come from across the pond…Germany, to be precise. Enter Imperium Dekadenz’s Meadows of Nostalgia.
The fourth album from the pair of Horaz and Vespasian, Meadows of Nostalgia creates a wind-swept and alluring aura through the deft use of melody. By forsaking symphonic elements and culling from the vast repertoire of Scandinavian BM releases, the band marches through one captivating black metal crest after the next. “Brigobannis,” the somber “Ave Danuvi,” acoustic instrumental “Memoria” and blinding “Aura Silvae” each boast detailed harmonies and compositionally-sound structures. As in, there’s a sense of purpose to these songs, not some wry concoction of stale elements and predictable tactics.
Well-suited for cold climate listening and atmosphere, Meadows of Nostalgia is matches the clichéd and overdone connotations between black metal and winter. However, the pairing makes perfect sense here; Imperium Dekadenz have created something truly special here.