Imperial Triumphant: Goldstar

Imperial Triumphant is a 3-piece avant-garde extreme metal act. Goldstar is the band’s 6th full-length studio album.

Imperial Triumphant have had a very focused aesthetic for quite some time now. Having such a clear vision for their sound and style is something i really respect. The merging of avant-garde jazz with black/death metal creates an unhinged and spontaneous mood. This unsettling musical approach is coupled with a visual aesthetic that leans heavily on art deco-inspired, New York City extravagance. This merging of a chaotic dissonance with the gold-encrusted, Statue-of-Liberty-meets-Chrysler-Building costumes and artwork creates a dichotomy that I feel is intended to represent New York City’s dark underbelly. It's a unique but compelling mix and theme.

I’ve been a fan of this band since 2018’s Vile Luxury, and whilst I find their music to be particularly interesting and very enjoyable, I would concede that their material is quite challenging, dissonant and not the easiest of listens. Comparing Imperial Triumphant’s music to typical extreme metal would be like comparing Avant Garde Jazz to Glen Miller big band standards. With all that said, Goldstar is potentially their most focused and concise offering yet, meaning that it is arguably a great entry point for new listeners.

The double punch opening of "Eye of Mars" and "Gomorrah Nouveaux" is Imperial Triumphant doing what they do best. Both tracks are heavy as hell, moody and atmospheric. Full of unhinged but hyper virtuosic musicianship from all 3 of the players. Steve Blanco's wild bass flurries in these opening tracks remind me of Les Claypool at times, especially when they deviate from extreme metal or jazz-inspired grooves. Kenny Grohowski's drum parts are pure fire throughout, and the guitar lines from Zachary Ezrin are typically dissonant and unique.

Next up comes "Lexington Delirium" & "Hotel Sphinx". These are probably my favourite tracks on the album. "Lexington Delirium" opens with a mellow melodic passage played on echo-drenched clean guitar, which is accompanied by some off-kilter, jazzy bass licks that have a killer bass tone that harks back to Jeff Berlin and Jaco Pastorius. Both tracks have considerably more melody in the riffing than I’m used to getting in this band, and the results are some of their more memorable work. I'd also note both tracks have great music videos. Be sure to check them out.

Up next are two brief interludes. "NEWYORKCITY" is an aggressive flurry featuring the shrieks of Yoshiko Ohara, and "Goldstar" is a retro Tabacco jingle of sorts, picking up on the album's cover art and sounding like it was lifted straight out of the 1920’s.

After these two brief but juxtaposing vignettes, we make the turn for the home straight with "Rot Moderne", "Pleasuredome", and "Industry Of Misery". "Pleasuredome" features Dave Lombardo and has a particularly head-turning jazzy Samba section. The band's drummer, Kenny Grohowski, is such a weapon that it's not actually clear to me where Lombardo is contributing. That's a compliment in both directions for what it's worth. The album closer, "Industry of Misery", is a real standout too, and covers a lot of ground in the 7+ minute run time. I hear some shades of End of Silence era Rollins Band in the grooves at times. The track has a strangely melodic ending section, complete with a bluesy guitar solo, which is a nice steady way to close out the chaos of the release in general.

Goldstar came out relatively early in the year, and despite having plenty of other albums to listen to, I keep coming back to it. This band continues to push the envelope and redefine the boundaries of what extreme metal can be. I acknowledge this won't be an album for everyone, but for me, it is clearly in the conversation for Album of the Year. Highly recommended.

Tracklist:
A1 Eye Of Mars 5:07
A2 Gomorrah Nouveaux 4:34
A3 Lexington Delirium 4:34
A4 Hotel Sphinx 4:49
A5 NEWYORKCITY 0:47
B1 Goldstar 0:54
B2 Rot Moderne 4:35
B3 Pleasuredome 5:35
B4 Industry Of Misery 7:20

Added: October 4th 2025
Reviewer: Chris Reid
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 239
Language: english

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