Decline Of The I - Wilhelm review (2025)

01. L' Alliance Des Rats
02. Entwined Conundrum
03. Diapsalmata
04. Éros N
05. The Renouncer

Four years ago, Johannes took me by surprise and became one of my standout releases of 2021. This time around, I was fully prepared for what Decline Of The I could have in store, and yet I’m still completely wowed by what they’ve accomplished on Wilhelm.

These two albums form the initial two-thirds of a trilogy inspired by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, after the first three albums from the project (one of many – past and present – involving A.K., also of Vorkreist, Neo Inferno 262, Merrimack and others) comprised their own trilogy based on French neurologist Henri Laborit. Now, when it comes to multirecord-spanning sagas in black metal, Panzerfaust have very much set the bar with their The Suns Of Perdition quadrilogy. However, while the two bands differ notably in how they incorporate facets of black and post-metal, I do think the quality of what Decline Of The I are currently accomplishing is comparable, as Wilhelm is a remarkable record.

Unlike the post-leaning black metal of Panzerfaust, Decline Of The I’s style is firmly categorizable as post-black metal, as it features a coalescence of blast beats, black metal tremolo riffing and pained harsh vocals low and high with slower, brooding post-metallic riffs and regular quieter passages to expand the dynamic range of songs. The black metal is fairly undiluted when it dominates, however; opening track “L'Alliance Des Rats” immediately brings in grim dissonant riffs, emphatic tom workouts and rampant blasts, and features multiple further onslaughts later on. Most of the following songs have their own passages of all-out assault, which are lovingly rendered with a truly bleak atmosphere, but there’s also black metal riffs that eschew unrelenting aggression. The predominantly slower “Diapsalmata” makes use of restrained triplet riffs and arpeggios that feed into a DSBM vibe that the rest of the song supports, while the more ferocious “Éros N” alternates the rampant sequences with less ballistic passages dominated by a really memorable tremolo riff.

As mentioned before, the primary vocals are typically black metal; a lower-register roar in the vein of Regarde Les Hommes Tomber is most frequently used, but there’s also some really high-pitched pained shrieks that almost border on The Body territory in terms of range (without being anywhere near as obnoxious). What probably is more important in the overarching success of Wilhelm, however, is the prevalent use of gloomy monastic chants, which appear frequently in parts both extreme and subdued, often in tandem with harsher screams, to shape the compellingly bleak atmosphere of the record, right up until the dying moments of closing song “The Renouncer”, which ends with said chorals in acapella, deforming into nothingness. This final track also makes very effective use of higher-pitched female chorals in several moments, to add a new and captivating dynamic to its apocalyptic aggression. Spoken word and samples also find use in scattered portions of the record, to round out its full vocal repertoire.

The vocals and instrumentation together work synergistically to shroud the album with an almost religiously charged gloom, or even a theatrical one (a tremolo attack approaching the end of “Éros N” gives me a curiously classical theatrical feel) and the quality of the metal writing enhances this. The fierce blackened attacks are beastly, but Decline Of The I arguably shine even brighter when they’re employing slower, more emphatic riffs drawn more from post-metal. Later on, “L'Alliance Des Rats” hits listeners with a huge and dwarfing wall of heaviness, which is elevated further by subtle guitar melody. Following track “Entwined Conundrum” similarly shines later on when an emphatic tom pattern (one of a few occasions, all of which are delicious) leads into bleak doom riffing.

There are even more weapons in the band’s arsenal, however. Violin and cello each make a few choice appearances across the album; the violin lends a sorrowful aura to the first quiet passage in “L'Alliance Des Rats”, and later adds an evocative tremolo texture to the gloom of “Diapsalmata”. The cello makes strong contributions during both quiet sequences and in accompaniment to blackened blasting in “Entwined Conundrum”, conjuring an exquisite atmosphere in the latter instance. It also appears in the extended quiet intro to “Diapsalmata”, alongside another key feature of Wilhelm: the electronics. AK placed an intentional focus on weaving in more electronics and samples this time around, and whether it’s the quiet bouncy synth tones in brief moments of “L'Alliance Des Rats”, or the more extended and prevalent contributions in the openings of “Entwined Conundrum” (appearing in a trip-hop break that has a touch of Netra to it) and “Diapsalmata” (feeding into the Lifelover-esque DSBM vibe along with the spoken word and cello), these elements play a minor but important role in shaping the record.

These additional features work strongly in building the appeal of the album’s quieter segments and post-metal builds, of which there are several gloomy sequences in the opening track. Most of the songs have such sequences, and they uniformly deliver, but perhaps due to how aggressive the song is otherwise, the beautifully-textured tom-driven segment in the second half of “Éros N” is a particular delight, as is the subtle, jazzy mid-song detour during “The Renouncer”. In reality, though, pretty much everything on Wilhelm is something to savour; the baseline style and atmosphere of the album is so strong, and the individual highlight moments on top of them even more so, right up to the final minutes of the record, when toms kick in during a thick, brooding finale to lend a tasty Schammasch vibe.

Decline Of The I are right in the very upper echelons of post-black metal, and Wilhelm is a serious early contender for my eventual Album Of The Year rankings. Placing this as the middle album in a trilogy is a promise of yet more to come, and I for one cannot wait to sample what this band releases next.

Rating breakdown

Performance:	8
Songwriting:	9
Originality:	8
Production:	9

Written on 13.02.2025 by musclassia Hey chief let's talk why not

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