They don’t call themselves a deathcore band. Their previous album ‘Elegy’ from 2022 was an album full of technical death metal. But now they are back to the essence and even they still don’t call themselves such, they are a symphonic deathcore band. This new album proves it. They prove it with this brutal opener called ‘Prepare To Die’ that has deathcore all over it. It’s nasty and dark en the riffs are diabolical. Shadows Of Intent is pushing itself to the limit. With ‘Flying The Black Flag’ they prove they can write an epic deathcore song full of brutality but also mixed with the symphonic influences that made them who they are. The riffs and solos they produce are not of this world. In my intro I was talking about their idols Dimmu Borgir and this next song ‘Infinity Of Horrors’ could be a song on their next album but mixed with the unique sound of Shadow Of Intent. Ben Duerr (vocals) can be considered as one of the best voices ever. The madness is not over yet ’cause with ‘Mechanical Chaos’ we get high level symphonic deathcore. I don’t know if they like the label I put on them but it’s what they play. Plenty influences from the death metal corner and the black metal corner too,  no doubt about that. But the main course that they give us here is symphonic deathcore. ‘They Murdered Sleep’ is full of the symphonic elements and they know when to use it blended together with state of the art solos. ‘The Facets Of Propaganda’ is the ending of the first half of the album which has been a hell of a ride so far.

It’s time for our first and only guest appearance but it’s not a little fish. George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fischer of Cannibal Corpse sings allong on the next song called ironically ‘Feeding The Meatgrinder’.  I think it’s an honour to have a death metal giant sing together with a deathcore band. And it’s a brutal piece of meat. ‘Vehement Draconian Vengeance’ has that same Dimmu Borgir vibe like we have heard earlier on this album. ‘Beholding The Sickness Of Civilization’ is a creature that creeps under your skin. ‘Apocalypse Canvas’ is an instrumental masterpiece where the rest of the band is handing out their business card sort to speak. Something they have done already ’cause this album is an absolute masterpiece. Sometimes a song doesn’t need lyrics, you just have to let the music do the talking. Darkness rules the earth on ‘No Matter The Cost’ and last but not least: ending with a bang, the epic title of the album a ‘Imperium Delirium.’ The intro tells us we are gonna have a good time. It’s the longest track on the album and combines everything they have worked on. Combining all their styles together: the death metal pieces, the dark black metal atmosphere they created and ,of course, delivered with a filthy deathcore sound.

Shadow Of Intent is holding the ropes themselves. They are doing it all indepentently. They manage their own Spotify and Youtube account. They are not against a record label, but at the moment there is no label that adds value in the services they provide. They have been doing it alone for the past 15 years and they are doing a great job. Doing it alone and producing this kind of music, we can only have respect.

Links