Imperial Triumphant is an American experimental metal band formed in 2005 in New York City.
Imperial Triumphant | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Origin | New York City, New York, U.S. |
Genres | Avant-garde metal, black metal, jazz fusion |
Years active | 2005–present |
Labels |
|
Members |
|
Website | imperial-triumphant |
History
Imperial Triumphant was formed in 2005 by Zachary Ilya Ezrin in New York City.[1]
Imperial Triumphant's second album, Abyssal Gods, was released in March 2015. Described by No Clean Singing's Austin Weber, "Abyssal Gods, is overall a thoroughly vicious act of blasphemy packed with more memorable moments than many bands accumulate in a lifetime of albums". Commenting on the band's effort to date as a whole, Weber stated "Imperial Triumphant are not only one of the most important U.S. black metal acts currently active, truly carving their own stylistic path, but they are also important to the future of black metal."[2]
Following the second album, in March 2016, Imperial Triumphant released Inceste.[3] A review in Decibel magazine commented that "Imperial Triumphant obviously have no use for the genre game... Inceste continues to warp expectations".[4]
Following the release of the studio album Vile Luxury, Imperial Triumphant embarked on their first European tour in April 2019,[5] including a show at Roadburn Festival. This was followed by further European dates in November 2019, including headlining the 'Cult Never Dies Stage' at Damnation Festival in Leeds, UK.[6]
In October 2019, it was announced that Imperial Triumphant had signed to Century Media Records and plan to release new material in 2020.[6] Subsequent Instagram posts from the band confirmed they had begun tracking at Colin Marston's Menegroth Studios in New York on 10 December 2019.[7]
Imperial Triumphant were one of the many[8][9] bands whose touring plans were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, postponing the 'Devastation on the Nation' tour until 2021.[10]
In April 2020, Imperial Triumphant announced via Instagram[11] that the new album would be entitled Alphaville and would be released 21 July 2020. Alongside this announcement a documentary video was released via Metal Injection detailing behind-the-scenes work on Alphaville and guest musicians who had collaborated, amongst them Tomas Haake of Meshuggah, longtime collaborator Colin Marston, and Trey Spruance of Mr. Bungle.[12] Metal Hammer named Alphaville as the 10th best metal album of 2020.[13]
Musical style
Imperial Triumphant's musical style has changed since formation in 2005 to encompass musical and lyrical influence from their home city of New York. Commenting on the release of Vile Luxury in 2018, Ezrin described the record as "our most refined and metropolitan release to date",[14] commenting further that the band had taken "the New York City influence that shaped the world, embraced the aspect of our sonic pyramid that at its core comes from jazz, and applied it to black metal".[14]
Band members
Current members
- Zachary Ilya Ezrin - vocals, guitars (2005–present)
- Kenny Grohowski - drums (2012–present)
- Steve Blanco - bass, vocals, keyboards (2014–present)
Previous members
- Naargryl Fjellkrieger - bass, backing vocals (2005-2012)
- Amarok Myrvandr - cello, guitars, violin (2005-2012)
- Maelström - drums (2005-2008)
- Alex Cohen - drums (2008)
- Erik Malave - bass (2012-2015)
- Max Gorelick - guitars (2016)
Discography
Studio Albums
- Abominamentvm (2012)
- Abyssal Gods (2015)
- Vile Luxury (2018)
- Alphaville (2020)
EPs
- Obeisance (2010)
- Goliath (2013)
- Inceste (2016)
Singles
- Manifesto (2012)
Compilations
- Shrine to the Trident Throne (2014)
References
- ^ "Imperial Triumphant". Encyclopaedia Metallum - The Metal Archives. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ Weber, Austin. "AN NCS PREMIERE: IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT — "KROKODIL"". No Clean Singing. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ "Majestic Avant Garde Black Metal! Premiering IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT 'Inceste' LP". CVLT Nation. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ "Imperial Triumphant - Inceste". Decibel. Alex Mulcahy. Red Flag Media Inc. July 2016.
- ^ "Brooklyn Black Metal Savants Imperial Triumphant Announce First-Ever European Tour". Kerrang!. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ a b Johnson, Stephen. "Imperial Triumphant Sign With Century Media Records and Announce Tour". totalrock.com. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- ^ "Imperial Triumphant @imperialtriumphant". Instagram.
- ^ "Here's A Running List Of All Canceled Rock/Metal Tours Because of the Coronavirus". Metal Injection. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ "Metal tour coronavirus cancellations: RATM, Tool, KISS, Deafheaven, Decibel, more". Brooklyn Vegan. Archived from the original on 2020-03-14. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
- ^ "ROTTING CHRIST, BORKNAGAR, WOLFHEART & ABIGAIL WILLIAMS Tour Pushed To 2021". Metal Injection. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ "New York City's avant-garde metal outfit Imperial Triumphant are announcing their forthcoming studio album, "Alphaville", which is scheduled for a release on July 31, 2020 via @centurymedia". Instagram. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ^ "IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT: Alphaville In-Studio Documentary Feat. Colin Marston (GORGUTS / KRALLICE), Tomas Haake (MESHUGGAH)". Metal Injection. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ^ "The 50 best metal albums of 2020". Metal Hammer. Future plc. January 8, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
- ^ a b "Enter the weird and frankly worrying world of Imperial Triumphant". Louder Sound - Metal Hammer. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
External links
- Official Website
- Imperial Triumphant at Bandcamp
- Imperial Triumphant at Facebook
- Imperial Triumphant at Instagram