Imperial Triumphant

Imperial Triumphant
Imperial Triumphant performing in 2019
Imperial Triumphant performing in 2019
Background information
OriginNew York City, U.S.
GenresAvant-garde metal, blackened death metal, jazz fusion
Years active2005–present
Labels
Members
  • Zachary Ezrin
  • Kenny Grohowski
  • Steve Blanco
Websiteimperial-triumphant.com

Imperial Triumphant is an American experimental metal band formed in 2005 in New York City.

History

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Imperial Triumphant was formed in 2005 by Zachary Ezrin in New York City.[1] Their first album, Abominamentvm, was released in 2012. Imperial Triumphant's second album, Abyssal Gods, was released in 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 December 10, 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 July 21, 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]

In May 2022, Imperial Triumphant announced their album 'Spirit of Ecstasy' with the release of the music video for the track 'Maximalist Scream'.[14] This was followed up with a release of the song 'Merkurius Gilded' with accompanying music video in June, featuring guest guitars from former bandmate Max Gorelick, and Kenny G on soprano saxophone.[15] 'Spirit of Ecstasy' was released on 22nd of July 2022.[16]

Throughout 2023, Imperial Triumphant released a number of cover versions of songs as singles, spanning a wide range of genres. The series began with a cover of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" in June,[17] followed a month later by their version of Dizzy Gillespie's jazz standard "A Night In Tunisia".[18] In September, they released their cover of Rush's "Jacob's Ladder",[19] followed in October by a cover of Metallica's "Motorbreath".[20] The final single release of 2023 was a cover of Wayne Shorter's "Nefertiti".[21]

In May 2024, Imperial Triumphant released Vile Luxury (Redux 1924), a remastered version of the 2018 album.

Musical style

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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",[22] 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".[22]

Band members

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Current members

  • Zachary 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

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Studio Albums

  • Abominamentvm (2012)
  • Abyssal Gods (2015)
  • Vile Luxury (2018)
  • Alphaville (2020)
  • Spirit of Ecstasy (2022)
  • Vile Luxury (Redux 1924) (2024)
  • Goldstar (2025)

EPs

  • Obeisance (2010)
  • Goliath (2013)
  • Inceste (2016)

Singles

Compilations

  • Shrine to the Trident Throne (2014)

References

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  1. ^ "Imperial Triumphant". Encyclopaedia Metallum – The Metal Archives. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  2. ^ Weber, Austin (February 16, 2015). "AN NCS PREMIERE: IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT — "KROKODIL"". No Clean Singing. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  3. ^ "Majestic Avant Garde Black Metal! Premiering IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT 'Inceste' LP". CVLT Nation. March 20, 2018. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  4. ^ "Imperial Triumphant – Inceste". Decibel. Alex Mulcahy. Red Flag Media Inc. July 2016.
  5. ^ "Brooklyn Black Metal Savants Imperial Triumphant Announce First-Ever European Tour". Kerrang!. January 14, 2019. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Johnson, Stephen (October 8, 2019). "Imperial Triumphant Sign With Century Media Records and Announce Tour". totalrock.com. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  7. ^ "Imperial Triumphant @imperialtriumphant". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021.
  8. ^ "Here's A Running List Of All Canceled Rock/Metal Tours Because of the Coronavirus". Metal Injection. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  9. ^ "Metal tour coronavirus cancellations: RATM, Tool, KISS, Deafheaven, Decibel, more". Brooklyn Vegan. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  10. ^ "ROTTING CHRIST, BORKNAGAR, WOLFHEART & ABIGAIL WILLIAMS Tour Pushed To 2021". Metal Injection. March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  11. ^ "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. Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  12. ^ "IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT: Alphaville In-Studio Documentary Feat. Colin Marston (GORGUTS / KRALLICE), Tomas Haake (MESHUGGAH)". Metal Injection. April 8, 2020. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  13. ^ "The 50 best metal albums of 2020". Metal Hammer. Future plc. January 8, 2020. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  14. ^ Weaver, James (May 20, 2022). "Imperial Triumphant announce new album 'Spirit Of Ecstasy'". Distorted Sound. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  15. ^ "HEAR KENNY G GUEST ON IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT'S INSANE NEW SONG "MERKURIUS GILDED"". Revolver. June 10, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  16. ^ Cordova, Daniel (July 22, 2022). "THE WEEKLY INJECTION: New Releases From IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT, OCEANS OF SLUMBER & More Out Today 7/22". Metal Injection. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  17. ^ Navidson, Will (June 6, 2023). "HEAR IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT'S AVANT-METAL COVER OF RADIOHEAD'S "PARANOID ANDROID"". Revolver. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  18. ^ Kennelty, Greg (July 19, 2023). "IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT Streams Cover Of DIZZY GILLESPIE's "A Night In Tunisia". Metal Injection. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  19. ^ Lewry, Fraser (September 7, 2023). "Mask-wearing experimental metallers Imperial Triumphant have released a version of Rush's Jacob's Ladder that's both extremely creepy and substantially epic". Metal Hammer. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  20. ^ Bellino, Emily (October 18, 2023). "IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT Release Cover of METALLICA's "Motorbreath"". Metal Injection. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
  21. ^ Kennelty, Greg (November 29, 2023). "IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT Streams Wild Cover Of WAYNE SHORTER's "Nefertiti"". Metal Injection. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
  22. ^ a b "Enter the weird and frankly worrying world of Imperial Triumphant". Louder Sound – Metal Hammer. July 12, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
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