ALBUM REVIEW: Spirit Of Ecstasy – Imperial Triumphant
The world of heavy music often claims to be shaken to its core by music that is simply not as advanced and mind boggling as it purports to be. Rarely is such a large platform given to artists who do push the creative envelope to a high level of recognition. However, New York trio IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT are thankfully being given a platform to showcase their miasmatic musical canvas. After attaining a high degree of critical acclaim with their 2020 LP Alphaville, IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT have done what many bands fail to do, which is to flex their creative muscles even further with their new album Spirit Of Ecstasy.
Aptly released as the world is melting due to a heatwave, Spirit Of Ecstasy is a sonification of said change of state. It is heady, chaotic and at first listen, extremely unforgiving. It is eight tracks of unashamed musical bludgeoning, both terrifying and beautiful in equal measure. The discordant rolls of the opening number Chump Change grab us as listeners by the lapels as Kenny Grohowski’s drum rolls make our head’s spin, before the bellow of founding member Zachary Ezrin echoes around our skulls. The song almost acts as a sum of intention for what is to follow, with the main trio pummelling us, then changing tactic and switching up the mood with a slide guitar section that almost seems calm, before an absolutely terrifying musical sequence featuring the masterful playing of SEVEN)SUNS ups the terrifying ante.
Where Spirit Of Ecstasy differs to the masterful Alphaville is a sense of narrative cohesion between the songs. The previous record had a true sense of scope, whilst Spirit Of Ecstasy has IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT taking the threads of their previous effort and mangling them further in an attempt to push themselves creatively. What we get is a masterful exploration of the extremities of music making. Thankfully, it is not all just extreme metal pummelling, the control of the dynamics on the record is masterful, and even though the oppressive nature of the record is palpable, it always moves onto the next scene (as it were) smoothly and cohesively. The sheer amount of sonic textures woven masterfully throughout really demand something of a listener, which is what makes the work of IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT so intoxicating. The haunting choral vocals on Death On A Highway evoke the empty streets and high peaks of New York City, and the string writing at the start of Merkurius Gilded offers a glint of gold in the grime of the city streets.
What IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT have done here is push their creative envelope to new sonic worlds, which is incredibly exciting. Spirit Of Ecstasy acts almost as a series of pictures of New York, evoking the chaos and beauty of urban life, demanding your attention. It is a record that is both thought provoking and terrifying, steeped in existential levels of urban dread. And that makes it masterful.
Rating: 9/10
Spirit Of Ecstasy is out now via Century Media Records.
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