IMPERIALIST - Prime
Transcending Obscurity Records
In all honesty being a new Black Metal band in 2025 is a tough sell to older fans. Now if you've been into the genre for the past twenty years then your opinion is worthless to me. But if you remember the days when we didn't know what to call it (aka: the first wave) and then the whole Norwegian explosion of sounds came. Then I'll listen to ya and by the way that's me.
With that said I had written about IMPERIALIST's debut full length, Cipher, back in 2018 which also came out on Transcending Obscurity Records. Looking back I didn't think it was amazing. In fact I thought they were so heavily influenced by Sweden's DISSECTION that their home town of Monrovia, California is probably not a sunny place.
I did not write about their second full length, Zenith, which came out in 2021 or their Quantum EP which came out in 2023. But here we are with this four piece band's third full length and I can honestly say there's something cool going on with it. Basically it's Melodic Black Metal in an obvious US version. There's some extreme sounding stuff like the opener "Starstorm" as well as the second cut "Beneath the Sands of Titan" which will have concert crowds starting a slam pit.
Lyrically IMPERIALIST are a Sci-Fi BM act but in all honesty who cares. Look I'm down with the devil and all the way with pagan aspects and national culture when it comes to Black Metal I like. But hey give me some cool sounds to blast and I'll go with it. So IMPERIALIST do on here push a thrashy, semi cold tremolo picked sound with harsh vocals. Their DISSECTION is still there but IMPERIALIST have definitely grown into their own shoes.
I mean there's some savage yet melodic guitar soloing. Add to that a barrage of drum work. The band lays in some atmosphere with the instrumental "Heavens Sunder" as well as later on with their seven plus minute closer "A Ghost Abandoned". The bottom line is that on this their third full length IMPERIALIST have come into their own as far as modern day Black Metal goes. Yeah this is a winner.
LISTEN HERE:
https://imperialistus.bandcamp.com/album/prime
No comments:
Post a Comment