Over the past few years, Imperial Triumphant has built up a following for their bizarre fusion of black metal and jazz into their avant-garde compositions. Hailing from New York, their dissonant riffs have become synonymous with their concept of the city: equal parts alluring and repulsive. Featuring an ominous backdrop of blast beats and snarling vocals, they let their experimentation run wild with jazz passages and strange time signatures. In previous albums Vile Luxury and Alphaville, Imperial Triumphant have favored themes of excess, apocalypse, and opulence as they grind different noises together. Heavily featuring gold motifs on their cover art and stage performances, Imperial Triumphant feels inspired by the chaotic nightlife of New York and the extravagant displays of wealth aligned with poverty. Intense polyrhythms, nightmarish riffs, radio samples, and wicked features from Kenny G, his son, and Yoshiko Ohara give Spirit of Ecstasy a boost to its filthy decadence.
Spirit of Ecstasy isn’t afraid to get gritty as the anxious and atonal wails converge together on the opener, “Chump Change”. Though the start is a little slow as it sludges its way through, the massive “Merkurius Gilded” fires immediately out of the gate and never stops the momentum. Balanced between the affluent, indulgent jazz movements and the depraved, maniac metal riffs, Spirit of Ecstasy should be familiar territory for fans of the band. Teetering on the edge of the two sides of city life, Imperial Triumphant easily fill their listeners with a sense of dread as they freely flow through the ups and downs. On the instrumental track “In the Pleasure of Their Company”, the horn solos with chugging guitar riffs give breathing room before heading back into a wall of sound on “Bezumnaya”. The guttural growls on “Metrovertigo” make me feel like I’m opening a portal to another dimension within the same city. The wicked balancing act is the main reason why Imperial Triumphant sound so good and they play it up to the extreme on Spirit of Ecstasy.
While Imperial Triumphant have certainly come into their own sound over the past three albums, Spirit of Ecstasy plays it rather safe and is very much an extension of what fans already know. Moments of sonic brilliance are just as easily interrupted by awkward balls of sound that never develop the foundation required to soar. The new instrumentation and features are an interesting direction but the muddy production doesn’t give Spirit of Ecstasy the same oomph as Alphaville. The complex, technical side of the jazz passages are often the most compelling aspect of their music but the metal doesn’t always feel the same. The Mingus-inspired sounds and rapid-fire tremolos feel much more in tune with the overall sound design when compared to the rumbling pits of riffing. The decadence and savagery are incredible but the emptier sections often ring hollow. Imperial Triumphant seem to be more confident in their sound on Spirit of Ecstasy but they need a bigger presence from their black metal side if they want to reach their full potential.
Must Listens: Metrovertigo, Merkurius Gilded, In the Pleasure of Their Company
