#AlbumReview : ALIZAM – Exilium Vitae (2025) - A solemn descent into the philosophy of existence

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With their second full-length album, Exilium Vitae, released on November 13, 2025, Iranian dark folk doom unit Alizam deepens their signature atmospheric melancholy and delivers a conceptual work that feels less like a record and more like a metaphysical journey. Built upon themes of creation, exile, and the quiet collapse of humanity, the album functions as a philosophical requiem—an inquiry into why existence often feels like punishment rather than purpose.

If their debut carved a path through the fog, Exilium Vitae widens it into a vast, windswept abyss.

A Narrative of Cosmic Wound and Human Fragility

At the core of Exilium Vitae lies a single haunting question:
Why does existence feel like exile?

Rather than offering comfort or grandeur, Alizam constructs an album that performs an autopsy of life itself. Through layers of dark folk textures, doom-laden tempos, and atmospheric compositions, the band paints humanity not as divine creation, but as collateral—born from doubt, shaped by captivity, and freed only by the inevitability of death.

Alizam’s sound on this record is mature, deliberate, and suffocating in its beauty. Classical guitars, electric distortion, and mournful vocals intertwine, sculpting a world where dusk is eternal and every breath feels borrowed.

Track-by-Track Reflections

I. Prelude of Dusk

A fragile, trembling beginning where existence awakens already wounded. The universe takes its first breath… and already hears its last. A haunting introduction that sets the album’s philosophical tone.

II. The Infernal Bargain

One of the record’s most striking concepts: humanity forged not from holiness, but from negotiation. The track feels ritualistic, heavy with tension—an origin story written in shadow.

III. Gilded Cage

A beautifully tragic piece that critiques the illusions of freedom. Calm melodies frame a harsh truth: we learn to adore our own imprisonment.

IV. Vortex of Habit

Droning rhythms and hypnotic layers depict the mechanization of human life. Identity erodes as survival becomes mistaken for purpose.

V. The Withered

Perhaps the emotional core of the album. Subtle, decaying motifs echo the slow fading of the soul. It’s not a collapse—it’s erosion.

VI. Dust Claims Us All

A philosophical acceptance of mortality. Instead of fear, the track carries a solemn truth: dust is the final law, the great equalizer, stripping all names, monuments, and memories.

VII. Epitaph

A moment of release. The music softens into resignation, turning death into the album’s only act of kindness. A stunning piece of doom-laden serenity.

VIII. Wraith

Post-mortem longing drifts through spectral instrumentation. The soul lingers, hollow yet searching. Not horror—just profound yearning.

IX. Elegy of Dust and Dusk

A breathtaking piano-and-violin finale that dissolves into nothingness. No redemption, no triumph—just a silent vanishing. And yet the final breath hints at rebirth, suggesting the cycle will begin again.

A Circle of Eternal Dusk

By the time Exilium Vitae reaches its closing notes, Alizam’s message becomes clear:
existence is a loop—one carved by twilight, captivity, decay, and renewal.

The album is a philosophical statement as much as a musical one.
A mirror held to the human soul.
A universe where sunrise never arrives—only the sacred poetry of dusk.

Credits & Craftsmanship

  • Composer & Arrangements: Alireza Nasiri
  • Guitars & Vocals: Alireza Nasiri
  • Electric Guitar: Mohammad Reza Nasiri
  • Bass: Saman Malekinejad
  • Lyrics: Omid Nooranifani, Aidin Mozaffari, Alireza Nasiri
  • Mix/Master: Alireza Nasiri
  • Cover Art: Alireza Nasiri & Kaveh Rezaei

Every contributor adds depth to the album’s emotional world, but it is Alireza Nasiri’s compositional vision that becomes the spine of this work—both intimate and cosmic.

Conclusion

Exilium Vitae is one of those rare albums that feels timeless.
It is not simply music—it is a mythos, a meditation, a lament. Alizam has created a soundscape where doom, dark folk, and existential philosophy converge into something hauntingly beautiful.

For listeners who seek music that speaks to the soul’s deepest wounds, this album will resonate long after its final notes vanish into the dusk.

Contacts:

Link: https://linktr.ee/alizam.official

Email: alizam.org@gmail.com

IG: https://instagram.com/alizam.official