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Right from Slovenia comes this debut full-length from this four-piece act named Dalkhu. Guitar player/songwriter Sorg started this project as a one-man act in 2003. It was then meant as a way to go against the more mainstream-sounding black metal scene.

Imperator is a self-released album. It does not sound like a demo, although a couple of points would need improvement, in my opinion. First, the overwhelming skin beating; second, the too discreet guitar work. The overall sound is not too raw, nor is it too polished. Dalkhu's take on the black metal arts is pretty straightforward, with a few twists and turns here and there. They have occasional ambient or orchestral keyboards, as well as some wicked/beastie vocals. Then you have a bit of a theatrical edge popping in once in a while. The compositions are actually well written and show varied paces and atmospheres. You get a few crunchy riffs here, frequent distorted arpeggios and tremolo picking leads, not to forget the cleaner playing. I did enjoy a few tracks on this disc such as "In My Arms", "Helretic Welcome" and "awakening of Millenniums".

Imperator delivers a regular dose of European black metal without breaking any new grounds.