Imperial Triumphant "Alphaville" Review
From within the depths of the great urban hellscape of New York City rises another regurgitation from progressive black metal behemoths Imperial Triumphant. For over a decade now the most vile of power trios imaginable have been navigating murky, sludge-infested waters, towing the line between several well-established brands of black metal extremism. By their own account1, the group found their stride in 2018 with the release of Vile Luxury. Touting a subtle change in tone compared to their previous output, Vile Luxury put a brooding and angular metropolitan sound on display that was equal parts scathing deconstruction and austere reverence of urban life. With the release of Alphaville, Imperial Triumphant look to continue and evolve that soundscape.
Right out the gate Alphaville positions itself in contrast to its predecessor. The opening track of Vile Luxury, "Swarming Opulence", began with a bombastic horn quartet intro, meandering towards an abrupt resolution and transition into aggressive blasts over an obtuse, disjointed set of riffs. Here on Alphaville, we find Imperial Triumphant taking a much less in-your-face approach on the opening track "Rotted Futures". A minute-and-a-half crescendo of ambient organ, synth, and a single horn begins to ascend and eventually dissolves into a low gain arpeggio on guitar and a rhythm section brimming with potential energy, subdued to fit the vibe, yet waiting to pounce out and assault the senses. We find the trio holding onto this rhythm for quite a while, a theme that carries thru most of the record: ominous, thoughtful, and open instrumentation carried thru for extended periods. The atmosphere this approach cultivates is hypnotic. It is palpable how eager the music is to jump out of its proverbial shoes when the actual aggression kicks in. The second single from off the album, "City Swine" puts this technique to amazing use, allowing a wash of clean, off-kilter chord progressions and jazz-like bass lines to flow under sixteenth note kicks; a juxtaposition that borders on absurd. Yet, the effect is so tense it has the effect of leaving the listener in limbo. After over a minute the ensemble becomes more obtuse, more disjointed, more chaotic, never hitting the accelerator until it feels as if the tension overflows from the instruments themselves and spills into a distorted chorus section. From here the otherworldly chants of the track's title echo and cut through the dissonant chords, a fitting resolution for the first half of the song.
The jazz influence on Alphaville seeps through much more frequently than on other releases as well. Tracks like "Excelsior" and "Transmission to Mercury" open with sections that feel like they will burst into renditions of Giant Steps and My Favorite Things respectively. However, as the latter makes clear, jazz and metal are inseparable entities in the realm of Imperial Triumphant. "Transmission" spends its last few minutes cycling through alternations of what you might call traditional black metal riffage and an arrangement of choir and horns that match chord-for-chord with its metal counterpart. The section goes on for an inordinate amount of time - contributing to the hypnotism I mentioned earlier - and ultimately feeling like a Shepard tone constructed not from frequencies but arrangements.
Deviations into other, distinctly not-black-metal, genres are scattered throughout Alphaville and comprise a great portion of the album's identity. There is a riff in "Excelsior" that feels like a mish-mash of Dick Dale and Ruins, "Atomic Age" opens with a barber shop quartet that falls apart into what sounds like a riff off a Yowie record, parts of the title track feel like a film score. It truly feels as if everything and the kitchen sink was thrown into this record; and none of it feels terribly out of place. The creative license with which Imperial Triumphant have run with the idea of New York City as a thematic tool is astounding, to the point where if it weren't for that key aspect maybe this album would feel utterly disjointed. But as of my writing this I feel like every corner turn into math rock, jazz, punk, surf rock, and all manner of other musical realms is justified in some way as a manifestation of what can be found on the street corners themselves.
None of this would work, of course, without the absolutely stellar production on display. As could be expected when one sees Colin Marston's name on a project, this album sounds simultaneously huge, natural, open, brimming with energy, and dynamic to a fault. Even in the midst of utter chaos, there is clarity and purpose to the addition (and subtraction) of instruments on a moment-by-moment basis. Such a point highlights a difference in writing between previous albums as well. Where on Vile Luxury certain tracks like "Chernobyl Blues" and "The Filth" felt like deconstructions into walls of sound, Alphaville leaves plenty of space for each instrument to fill in, despite numerous explosions into similarly constructed noise walls. For example, in the middle of "Atomic Age", a scream from Yoshiko Ohara (who feels like an honorary member of Imperial Triumphant at this point) signals a burst into chromatic noodling, blasting, and general chaos that clearly transitions through several distinct phrases. Then the section ends with another tidal wave of strings, wistful guitar chords, and a blast beat pattern that keeps a consistent tempo in the hands but has the kick gradually speeding up and slowing back down. The first time I heard this I said what the fuck to myself, replayed it, and said it again because I just don't understand how it still works as a single piece of music.
But, to be sure, it works.
The album is rounded out by a few cover songs, "Experiment" by Voivod and "Happy Home" by The Residents. Both are solid choices from bands that don't feel like they get enough attention. Both are also executed pretty well and don't feel derivative. I'm not gungho about them, as I feel the main body of the album speaks for itself and their inclusion was a label decision 2. But I'm not personally a huge fan of bonus tracks anyway, and I'm just being picky because I can't find any glaring faults with the rest of the album.
If what Imperial Triumphant have put to record is a precedent for the black metal scene in the 20s, I'm completely beside myself with anticipation. Whatever they have to say and do next, this band had better be on your radar and in your playlists.
-Dalton
2. An interview with Zachary Ezrin that I can't find right now. I promise it exists.
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