Decline of the I - Wilhelm (2025)

I had post-metal debutants this week, now it's the time for the genre's old timers. However, we won't go far from the existential themes exploration in heavy, yet spiritual music. The French Decline of the I released their fifth album and did it with a (surprisingly experimental) bang.

Released by the Polish label Agonia Records, the album marries very traditional metal elements with airy and spiritual ones while still creating a coherent whole. The gregorians-like chanting is kept in check by angry vocals so that nothing here takes control over the music and the balance is in place. The same goes with samples, spoken word parts, tear-jerking violins in backgrounds. This black metal is filled with eclectic ornaments that make the album stand out.

The album is the second part of the trilogy devoted to Søren Kierkegaard and his existentialist philosophy, one that could only be illustrated so well by the sound of black metal. As the band's leader, AK, admits, the album constitutes "a constrained dive into the angst of ethics", or, as I would call it, an exciting, yet depressing and overwhelming at times, lesson on existentialism.

Band picture by William Lacalmontie. Wilhelm costs 11 USD.

Check: Éros N

Country: France

Genre: eclectic black metal

Label: Agonia Records

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