Imperial Triumphant – Shrine to the Trident Throne (Code666)
Sunday, 8th June 2014
So, New York’s Imperial Triumphant took the ten songs from their last two albums and combined them into one re-release called Shrine to the Trident Throne. It’s a two for one deal! No need to be said, if you didn’t like them before, it’s probably not going to change your standing opinion. But, if you’ve never heard their obscure war-angry black metal, there’s no better time than now to give them a try.
What’s not to love about 2012’s Abominamentvm? Quite a few of those songs have good vibes that are smooth, brutal, groovy, and doomy. “Crushing the Idol” has a peculiar charm to it with a recurrent quivering tune filled with exotic-like vibrato. “Devs est Machina” slides from sleek to stomping beats, especially when the melody is hollered out “Devs! Est! Machina!” In the heavy trudging rhythms of “Bellvm,” the gruff vocals of Ilya Goddessraper (IT’s main-man) match well with atmospheric sound effects such as apocalyptically alarming sirens. In sum, IT sturdily erect an inescapable cataclysmic realm warped in darkness.
For the most part, IT make every second of a song count. Usually with a BM record that runs 38 minutes, you wouldn’t expect ten songs out of it. Sure enough, there’s a couple flimsy one-minute experimental mixes. If you hate pesky flies, you shouldn’t (or should) give “Scaphism” a listen and challenge yourself to endure the whole 107 seconds. It’s not significantly long, but enough to grind anyone’s gears because it’s like succumbing to cruel and unusual torture, yet artistically acceptable considering scaphism is a form of torture that ends in flies feeding on the victim’s flesh. Sick.
Shrine to the Trident Throne could be taken as a reminder of IT’s existence, or as a chance for them to snatch up new fans. Most importantly, it’s a forewarning of their upcoming album, Abyssal Gods, expected early 2015. Emphasizing their homicidally hostile temper, Imperial Triumphant are butchering the system and marching towards a metal revolution in a misanthropic black/death metal massacre. Make way for these monstrous brutes, and anticipate being smashed with the weight of a gargantuan elephant.
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