A shining new release

Based out of New York City, Imperial Triumphant has released their newest album, Spirit of Ecstasy. Imperial Triumphant was first formed in 2005 and has produced black-metal-inspired music since the group’s creation. The roster has seen its share of changes over the past seventeen years, but the current lineup consists of Zachary Ilya Ezrin at vocals and guitars, Kenny Grohowski at drums and Steve Blanco at bass, vocals and keyboards.

Spirit of Ecstasy is the group’s fifth studio album release and the first since Alphaville in 2020. Imperial Triumphant continues to utilize the black-metal style that it has for seventeen years and does so successfully. 

“Chump Change” kicks off the album with pure black metal. The vocals are deep, edgy, and complimented with intense music. The pacing works well here and sets the stage for the remaining tracks on the album.

“Tower of Glory, City of Shame” is another exceptional track. The first part of the song sounds very similar to other songs on the album, but the climax is where the shift happens from black metal to standard metal. This is a refreshing feeling and gets the song ready to end with electricity and creates an awesome metal core feeling.

“Death on a Highway” takes a similar opening approach to other songs but with a faster pace. Like every song on Spirit of Ecstasy, the midway point is what makes the song shine. Towards the middle of the song, the music slows down but maintains the same level of intensity presented throughout the song.

Spirit of Ecstasy is a shorter album only having eight songs in its listing. Each song feels connected by its music as it feels familiar across each song but it is different enough for listeners to stay tuned. While this is good for metalcore fans, the similar openings across each song may be a turn-off to some listeners.

Although Spirit of Ecstasy is a nice release, it does leave a bit to be desired in certain areas. The music is good but sometimes it feels as if the same beats are being used for every song in the beginning. It would have been nice to see more diversity in the instrumentals throughout. 

Nevertheless, Spirit of Ecstasy is an excellent release. It may take time for the music to kick in and switch up, but when the music kicks in, the album shines.