Imperial Triumphant — Shrine to the Trident Throne

Imperial Triumphant is a relatively new band with just one full-length under their belts released back in 2012. Shrine to the Trident Throne is considered a compilation by the band even though it’s really just their first album Abominamentvm with the previously digital only EP tacked on as a bonus. Hailing from the US and just recently signed to Code666, I was curious to see what warranted essentially a re-release just two years after the album was released. After giving Shrine to the Trident Throne a number of spins I think I know why, and it’s not because the album is good.

Black metal is a profoundly simple thing. Much like punk, it was initially meant to be a rebellion against societal norms and this was captured though generally simplistic music with tons of passion. Of course it’s only natural that as a genre gets older that technical proficiency increases because if there are good, simple riffs they’ve probably been played thousands of times before. So playing becomes more complex to stay fresh to avoid sounding like the guys who were doing the same stuff ten, fifteen, twenty years ago only worse. Of course, increased technicality has its price. Listening to most modern tech-death, for example, is a joyless ordeal because there’s simply no desire to create good music – it’s all about complexity. While this trend has been largely avoided by black metal till now, it seems like this increased technicality at the expense of quality is on the rise with the legions of obnoxiously dissonant Deathspell followers.

And this is where Imperial Triumphant comes in, except they combine technical, dissonant black metal with occasional tech death influenced parts. Which is somehow so much worse. It’s like they thought to themselves “How could we combine some of the trendiest parts of black and death metal?” and then hit the studio. They might be the first band I’ve encountered playing deathened technical black metal, probably because everyone else had the good sense to throw that terrible idea into the trash where it belongs. Like most extremely technical music, Shrine to the Trident Throne (and by extension Abominamentvm) is characterized by incoherent, senseless song structures, soulless masturbation of the fretboard, and incredibly spastic drumming.

If you’re the type of person who wets themselves while listening to Beyond Creation and wished that they listened to more DSO and BaN, you’re going to eat this album up. If you prefer quality riffs and logical song structures you’d better check elsewhere. Like many technical bands, this is a case of extremely talented musicians who, when working together, create astoundingly shitty music. There are decent riffs scattered here and there, but for the most part, this album seems to be an exercise in wanking at the expense of quality. This might be one of the most tasteless albums I’ve heard all year