Experimental black metal creates havoc

New York City band Imperial Triumphant have released their fourth album Alphaville, and the record is filled with creativity. The instrumentation fills the atmosphere with a dark musical theme. Vocalist and lead guitarist Zachary Ilya Ezrin fills each track with his authoritative vocals and amazing guitar playing, vocalist and bass guitarist Steve Blanco sings with great power and his guitar playing is insane and drummer Kenny Grohowski contributes to the madness by playing fast-paced drum beats. The music on Alphaville is wonderful thanks to how Ezrin, Blanco and Grohowski use their talent to create a world of imagination.

Intriguing “Happy Home (The Residents)” puts listeners on a wild musical ride with eerie instrument playing. It is interesting to hear a band molding music into musical theater and this song has a feeling of not knowing when the music will change its tune or when it will end. As a band, Imperial Triumphant did a fine job with adding layers of instruments and vocals to help enhance this track and the vocals by Ezrin and Blanco sound intimidating with shrilling shrieks, whispers and screaming. “Happy Home (The Residents) ” is an musical adventure filled with creativity.

Surging “Alphaville” is a neat track because Ezrin and Blanco play electrifying guitar notes. Throughout the track, Ezrin plays ear-bleeding guitar notes that add volume and craziness on this piece and the guitar solo in the middle of song keeps the musical flow steady, but on a rapid pace. Blanco does a pretty good job with his riffs because the low, thunderous sounds emerging from the background add more depth and his guitar style is pleasing to hear by how fast he can play. The sound of well-performed guitar riffs keeps the song together, and both guitarists light “Alphaville” up with their crafty skills.

Mysterious “Transmission to Mercury” is an experiment itself due to how jazz music is mixed in with the metal. The beginning of the song has delicate piano notes welcoming listeners to this piece and the horn section is played beautifully because the soft noise creates a quiet, jazzy atmosphere until the band switches to metal. The best part can be found in the middle of the song and it shows how well the band manages to keep the jazz theme alive. Throughout the constant madness, the horn section can be heard boastfully while Ezrin sings and shrieks to the music and Grohowski’s drumming is being played on a classy musical structure while the loudness continues. Imperial Triumphant are not afraid to test the waters while creating music and the style they have as a band is shown on this track.

Clashing “The Greater Good” is epic because of how Imperial Triumphant play together as a band. Right off the bat, the guitar riffs by Ezrin and Blanco introduce listeners to the wild side of the band and each guitar note is being played on a deeper and lower musical structure before switching to a high and fast-paced music style. What is noticeably pleasing is how both Ezrin and Blanco play the same notes, but in a different style and when the sounds collide into each other, the noise is fantastic because both musicians are displaying how they feel while playing guitars. Also, when Grohowski smacks his cymbals with his stick, the crashing noise creates the feeling of urgency while Ezrin quietly shrieks in passion. “The Greater Good” displays what Imperial Triumphant can do as a band, and it would be great to hear this song live.

Driven “Atomic Age” is another interesting piece because the musical structure quickly changes into different forms of music. Because of the never-ending sounds coming from the instruments and vocals, it is hard to keep track of how many musical forms Imperial Triumphant have played on this composition, but smashing the musical elements together works brilliantly by how everything blends together to create a dramatic feeling. “Atomic Age” is well played by the band and people should give this tune a listen.

Alphaville is a well done, experimental piece of work that people should listen to.