Three years. It is the time that separates each Decline of the I album.
Johannes, their fourth opus, is no exception. A.K. (vocals/guitar/keyboards, Merrimack, Vorkreist, The Order of Apollyon, ex-Love Lies Bleeding…) recruited this time AD (bass/vocals), SK (drums, Arkhon Infaustus, Temple of Baal, ex-The Order of Apollyon…) and SI (vocals) to accompany him.
After working on comportemental experiences of the neurobiologist Henri Laborit on the three previous albums, the band now focuses on the work of the Danish philosopher, theologian and poet Søren Kierkegaard, completed by an artwork of Dehn Sora (Church of Ra, Ovtrenoir, Throane, Treha Sektori), a mix of Neb Xort (Anorexia Nervosa) and a mastering signed by Déhà (Imber Luminis, Wolvennest, Merda Mundi, Slow, Yhdarl…).
About the sound, we face five new compositions of a raw and massive Post-Black Metal, of which oppressive and sharp sonorities add to those painful violence and pessimism. We find backing vocals, samples, clean riffs but above all this burning and hypnotic passion on A Selfish Star, the first song. The vocalist’s howlings melt to an unhealthy dissonance, that sometimes breaks to inject a weighing blackness to vivid melodies, or let place to shose french films samples. The Veil of Splendid Lies keeps those majestic tones for impenetrable riffs, that become more and more miserable, getting full of pain and sorrow. The final part is impressive, and created a contrast with this so joyful sample, that finally leads us to Act of Faith after a short moment of rest. The progression into blackness comes back, offering sometimes oppressive riffs, sometimes lighter, but always chaotic, then rage explodes, while Tethering the Transient offers an ardent and fast rage since the firsts seconds. The song will calm down, but we feel the blaze isn’t extinct, and it only asks to burn again. Dieu Vide (“Empty God” in french), the last song, is also the longest one. During nearly a quarter of an hour, the band melts a dissonant languor, a schizophrenic oppression and a piercing melancholy, dragging us into the depths of human soul to close the album. Jerky accelerations, broken quietness, grim violin, then finally the silence.
Decline of the I throws us into a vortex of oppressive and unfathomable blackness. Johannes is a mysterious and thoughtful album, which is also deep and brutal, allowing us to slowly abandon ourselves to the darkness.
95/100