What angst is extracted from ethical steadfastness speaks to an inherently nauseating codec, an implanted rule over the willpower which’d channel away the hardened lines of perception into uncertainty of purpose, dread. Paris, France-based avant-garde/post-black metal quartet DECLINE OF THE I depict a lifetime of this accumulation crashing upon the cathedral nave as their fifth full-length album reconfigures their signature sound(s) for the sake of its high conceptual vision. In this sense ‘Wilhelm‘ is intractable, an extraction which reveals deeper sophistication and insight which should not be buried or shied away from for its overwhelming presence. As a talisman of themed ulterior black metal worn loudly the affectation here is maximal yet not wasteful of its fixation, an experience which rewards with easily parsed grandeur up front yet carries deeper nuanced meaning and arrangement when addressed by a mind readied to chisel and scrape away in pursuit of formative existential theorem.

Decline of The I formed circa 2006 by way of musician A.K. (Vorkreist, Sektarism) who is best known as a more recent guitarist for Merrimack and notable contributor to the third The Order of Apollyon album back in 2018. Following some efforts focused on symphonic black metal sounds in his previous solo project, Love Lies Bleeding, the artist would name this new avant-garde ideation/personal divulgence for a song from said previous project, intending to communicate the diminishing returns on existence. Best known as a “post-black metal” band centering their efforts around conceptual works there are two major prongs of interest to their fork of neurotic expression: [1] First and foremost the siphoning of the self through niche subjects related to well-researched interest in great scientific minds (thus far Henri Laborit re: first three LPs and now Søren Kierkegaard) suggests deeper interest in psychology, existentialism and ethics, both understanding and potentially alleviating the trauma of the mind. That said, the artist’s interest in these subjects is a medium for channeling higher forms of experimental design alongside personal emotional release. [2] Second, their works invoke a form of semi-dissonant post-metal inspired moderne black metal which is realized between a bevvy of spoken word (en français) and electronic music breaks, eventually sourcing chorales for effect.

Each album bears its own voice and my first experience with the band via their third LP (‘Escape‘, 2018) was abrasive, focused on depressive black metal scour, and did nothing to convince me to continue back-or-forth with Decline of The I‘s discography at that point. Today I would suggest that my instant connection with ‘Wilhem‘ might’ve been even easier, or, more familiar if I’d taken it back to their 2012-released debut, ‘Inhibition‘ not only for its themes of liberation, aggression and self-denial but for the then nascent experimentation with trip-hop and electronic beats as reprieve from the pensive, slow burning black metal posited otherwise. I would suggest that if this fifth album sparks in mind going back to the debut might yield a lesser-realized draft of that core dynamic. Today the most important missing piece from our search for past-and-present greatness centers around ‘Johannes‘ (2021), an album I’d overlooked at the time with the noxious discomfort of ‘Escape‘ fresh in mind. The severity of tone was there, the production values reached a pristine point of precision therein, yet the most important link from then ’til now is a certain hymnal level of patience found in certain pieces (re: “Tethering the Transient”) which now blooms and rots deeper on ‘Wilhelm‘.

For this suggested Kierkegaard themed trilogy of works we are given very clear references to the early authorship of the eternally side-eyeing Danish “religious author” under pseudonym, specifically the ‘Either/Or‘ (1843) title and its deep layering of meaning. As the title ‘Johannes‘ referred to the main character, “the aesthete”, in Part I‘s representation of the personal subjective experience of life now ‘Wilhelm‘ refers to the main character from Part II, Judge Vilhelm “the ethical” and his experiences in civic light, or, representative of objectivity. Rather than summarize the book itself I’ll leave the depth to folks who’re already inclined to investigate auld or formative existentialist thought and its less dryly achieved variations, this being one of them; The dressing for this broader theory of human existence (or, experience) centers around concerns of faith and marriage, hence the referential illustration from artist Dehn Sora depicting a gold-ringed hand gripping the “aesthete” (Johannes, the Seducer) by the throat. I mention this to further suggest the depth of investigation, reference, and meaning placed upon ‘Wilhelm‘ as a work of genuine design which is perhaps likely to offer leagues more insight to the curious philosophical mind. Is the highly referential work of Kierkegaard an ideal starting point? It shouldn’t be considered entry level anything, no.

Even without approaching the music itself ‘Wilhelm‘ already begins to ask too much of the dull, slurring minds of today’s general populace per its theme an idea which cannot hope to sink down far enough to reach the lowest common denominator. Naturally this doesn’t matter as we find Decline of The I‘s approach to post-black metal steeped in riveting scene from the quick unveiling of opener “L’ Alliance des Rats“, replicating the slowed and introspective movement found at the end of ‘Johannes‘ yet amplifying the tragedian, or, deeply melancholic tone set. Pensive and steadily revealed as this piece is it also bears some of the more outright aggressive moments to be found on this album, building points of hymnal dread beyond the incendiary layers and blasts which fire up the song beyond its introduction. The dramatic tension released by this song is contained and amplified for the sake of a few ranting spoken word escalations, long atmospheric stretches in development of mood, and what forms is a proper vessel for a guest spot from T.C. of Regarde Les Hommes Tomber, a fitting inclusion for the style of this album.

Upon first strike I’d appreciated the production values, the sombre loft of the male chorales and all that’d been placed as foundation within that album opener yet it was the torsion of the experience beyond that point that’d ultimately sold me on the full listen. Musically speaking “Entwined Conundrum” continues the conversation of “L’ Alliance des Rats” by dipping into what’ll be unexpected waters per its addressal of a few of Decline of The I‘s major pillars of signature, namely electronic beats which not only work within the cathedral-haunting chorales of its opening moments but also the scathing post-metal arranged black metal strike which soon takes ahold of the song’s voice. While this feels like an ultra-modern black metal record in the moment sub-genre becomes less of a talking point as soon as the general flow from piece to piece becomes apparent, drawing outside the lines of each track length and tying together in sublime knots on the way through; Where does it go too far? Arguably folks who speak absolutely no French won’t glean much more than tone from the sampled speech at the start of “Diapsalmata”. This isn’t a huge shame, a minor detail, as folks are more likely to remember the skittering beat and the vocal murmuring into madness in the final third of the song.

Somewhere in between the downpour of ‘Wilhelm‘ hits, the natural peak of the larger thought jutting out within the rabidity of “Éros N“, striking me in the spine around ~4:35 minutes in as the animalistic decaying scream rails on into a rant. This is the beauteous and the horrifying grip on the throat so to speak as a point of peak induction even before a Charles Bukowski quote almost menacingly side-swipes the moment toward the sound of a braying ass. The church-quaking reveal of album closer “The Renouncer”, all fourteen minutes of it, is similarly explosive in how it rains down its female choir from above, a shambling and continually mulling piece which is tasked as both a spiritual climax and a segue to the third part of this particular trilogy, which I suppose is destined to be a mediation upon the religious, if we are still examining the major totems of ‘Either/Or‘. From my point of view this closing piece is enormous but cannot provide closure one’d want within a self-contained album, much as I appreciate the lead into the next work it’d felt like the thought could’ve been shaved back a few minutes to allow the choral interest to characterize the final impression of the full listen. If we are to head into the third part of this trilogy feeling the aftermath the of a grand renunciation then any qualms I have with those smaller details will hardly count.

What this experience might lack in terms of guitar-centric authorship it makes up for in its broadest strokes of presentation wherein showers of distorted guitar noise are directed into gestures which speak to dark and dramatic themes with just enough of a voice developed to invoke the required melancholia and existential impasse in process. The sense of empyreal drain typically associated with this level of black metal auteur instead speaks to institution, coldly resonant marbled walls, ancient wooden wainscoting and impossibly high ceilings reflected in the greater production values of ‘Wilhelm‘. As much as the guitar work does to inch along and frame more dramatic moments it is the vocal arrangements, piano and violin work which amount to the most profound moments in Decline of the I‘s ouevre for my own taste… this is the perfect ratio for increasingly spiritual considerations in theme. Does the jagged ring of post-metal chord chunking and electro-industrial beats take away from any of it? In fact they feel less like a gimmick or calling card this time around, instead acting as a device for resting contemplation. The only criticism I’d launch toward the sound design here is one of concern for the sheer loudness of the guitars and how they crush out some of the space occupied by the drums during the most harried moments on a couple of songs.

Thus far my experience with ‘Wilhelm‘ is fairly typical of the idealization which occurs when an artist first clicks somewhere along the way, likely garnering an “I still like that fifth album best” response from me somewhere down the line. That should speak some profound sense to the keen reader, though, as it is rare than any band only improves over time and finds an idealized yet still resolutely focused, hungered vision. Though I’m not sure I’ve found an eternal classic just yet with about a month of attentiveness in mind I would suggest that Decline of The I have created something which best communicates their overall character and question within the dread built channels of ‘Wilhelm‘. There is no denying the brilliance of this particular chapter of the artist’s vision from my point of view as such a high standard of gestured performance and ascribed meaning so rarely match up so well, eh, on purpose. A very high recommendation.

---