People like to ask where you were when something monumental happens, like when some national event occurred or you found out that you are about to have a baby with your significant other. I am sure that I was linked to Imperial Triumphant‘s newest album, Abyssal Gods, by one of the many, many metal bloggers that I follow. I cannot remember what I was doing or who alerted me to them, as that mundane information was immediately overshadowed by the music. I knew nothing about this band when I first clicked play, but as soon as I did, I knew within seconds that I was listening to one of my favorite releases of the year.
The album opens with “From Palaces of the Hive” bursting through the door at grinding speeds, revealing a massacre of start/stop blast-beats alternating from death to black to grind within seconds of each other. You will immediately notice an atmosphere forged from eerie guitar and an assortment of auxiliary instrumentation that add to the nightmarish horrorscape of “Abyssal Gods” to create a queasy unease to the seasoned listener and induces bloody, projectile vomit to those that are not regular extreme metal masochists. The opening track seamlessly transitions back and forth from frantic speeds to a crawling acid trip, allowing the band with one track to draw comparison to the complexity of Deathspell Omega but oozing the filth of Coffinworm or Lord Mantis and the sheer terror of Aevangelist. I feel that most bands would realize that this sound is so uniquely vile and so well executed, that they would be content with putting out an entire album of songs that are cut from the same cloth. I would be satisfied if they just cut up the mangled and bloody corpse of “From Palaces of the Hive” and just sewed the pieces in different ways for each track on the album. This does seem to be the case for “Dead Heaven” and “Twins” as they summon the same spastic fury and maddening tempo changes present in the first track. However, Imperial Triumphant do not settle for riding the same beast throughout all of Abyssal Gods, and they take a more chimeric approach to the album as a whole.
Imperial Triumphant seem to take a more straightforward approach for “Black Psychedelia” and much of “Krokodil”. They take their time in building both tracks with sludgy bass riffs and crawling doom pacing making you feel as though you have been injected with a slow-acting hallucinogen and you are falling deeply into a bad trip. Both tracks fall more in the avant-garde side of black metal with guitar lines that focus more on creating dissonant noise rather than any semblance of melody. These serve as a nice change of pace as compared to the relentless trauma of the other previously mentioned and allows Imperial Triumphant to show another side to the sonic evil that is Abyssal Gods.
The one downer I find on Abyssal Gods is the presence of multiple “filler tracks”. “Abyssal Gods”, “Celestial War Rape”, “Vatican Lust”, and “Metropolis” could each fall loosely into this category. These tracks feature non-traditional instrumentation and style, as they feature strings, trumpets, piano, choirs and church bells. When listening to the album as a whole, these tracks work to bring to the forefront the horrific atmosphere that dwells in this album like a cursed soul that is possessed by an unclean spirit. These tracks most definitely contribute to the unexpected nature of the structure and content of this record while most definitely allowing Imperial Triumphant to showcase that no matter what the instrument or tempo, they are truly terrifying. However, if you were listening to individual tracks from the album, you would most likely skip these songs.
All in all, Imperial Triumphant has forged one of the most horrifically complex records that I have ever heard. I knew from my first listen of Abyssal Gods that this album would be a game-changer for me. This album may prove to be my favorite record of the year, and I will be returning to this album consistently for years to come.
– Joshua Thieler
Abyssal Gods is available now on Code666 Records. For more information on Imperial Triumphant, visi the band’s official Facebook page.
Nine Circles 