Imperial Triumphant – Goldstar | Album Review

Refusing to stay stagnant Imperial Triumphant have produced another killer record, albeit in a way they haven't done before.

‘Accessible’ is not a word often uttered in conversations about Imperial Triumphant. However their latest release Goldstar is just that (in so far as extreme jazz riddled death metal can be). In the not so distant future this album will be described as the one to listen to if you need to ease into the aesthetic and sound of Imperial Triumphant. It’s no less madcap, maybe it’s just a bit more that we’ve become a little desensitised to the what the band brings to the plate. Goldstar is heavy on the art deco Metropolis inspired aesthetic, and less on the mental labyrinthine compositions of the albums that came before it. Of course that is not to say that it’s lesser in anyway, just a different approach to what is becoming a well settled niche.

With that intro you might be lead to believe that this new album isn’t as extreme as previous offerings, you’d be wrong, it maintains that sharpened urban edge, both beautiful and horrific in equal parts that is possibly no great represented than in the track, “Gomorrah Neouveaux,” where crushing death metal riffing sits alongside the soaring melodic leads, tarnished with black metal rhythmic work. The song is mind bendingly diverse as it moves through it’s parts with the ease of a well-seasoned New York cab driver.

The intermission track, “Goldstar,” has a special place in this album, it advertises (both literally and metaphorically) the aesthetic for this whole piece, a more readily consumable, kind of slimmed down version of Imperial Triumphant that might not have been as readily available in previous offerings.

Although this album might not be Imperial Triumphant’s most technically adept work, or the most Blut Aus Nord esque weirdness ridden romp, it stands out on it’s own for being highly listenable (something that the earlier albums might have lacked a bit of) and really settled into a nice medium between the exploration of their aesthetic and the execution of their particular brand of jazzy dissonant death metal. This is one of the those albums for people who might have let the band fall by the wayside the first time round, blaming ear fatigue, the wholesale madness often purveyed, or just preferring something more centre field death metal in their regular listening rotation. It should be heard by all, and really it’s got something for everyone too, be it the tapping madness of “Hotel Sphinx,” or the grinding despair of “Rot Moderne,” or even the crackly old school radio jaunt of “Goldstar.” Imperial Triumphant have killed it with this record, it’s appealing, aesthetic, horrifying, head bang inducing, and as easy to consume as a pizza slice on a grim rainy Big Apple day.