Masked jazz-metal weirdos Imperial Triumphant go pop with new track Eye Of Mars. Not really: they’re still masked and weird.

Imperial Triumphant in 2024
(Image credit: Alex Krauss)

Jazzy tech-metal noiseniks Imperial Triumphant have returned with new single Eye Of Mars.

The polyrhythmic nightmare was released as a standalone track today (September 19) and comes with its own music video. Watch and listen below.

The New York City trio have offered a very long and difficult-to-understand comment on the new release. “It is seen through the ages that universal truth rises to the top,” they say. “With this in mind, leaders of civilization are divided in control methods deployed through various mechanisms, some for the sake of humanity and some for the sake of interests that don't necessarily benefit humanity. The sum total of the entire apparatus then reaches a boiling point, after which time agendas are revealed.

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“On a much higher level exists that which lies beyond the five senses, beyond the science and materialism matrix. Many sacred texts worthy of protection by the people have endured while existing in relative obscurity as allegory. The knowledge gets passed down through generational cycles and ultimately makes visible that collective connection in all the world and all of us. This lights up the consciousness with a venerable force like electricity and music.

“Under the watchful eye, Mars slew the dragon, and seizing its teeth out of the great gaping mouth, scattered them broadcast like seeds unto us.”

If you think that’s hard to wrap your head around, try listening to anything else this band have done. Imperial Triumphant formed in 2005 and have released five mind-boggling studio albums. They re-recorded their 2018 release Vile Luxury and put it out earlier this year under the title Vile Luxury (Redux 1924).

Since their latest studio album, 2022’s Spirit Of Ecstasy, Imperial Triumphant have shared a series of disorienting covers, including Rush’s Jacob’s Ladder and Radiohead’s Paranoid Android.

It’s likely, albeit unconfirmed, that Eye Of Mars is the first taste of the next Imperial Triumphant album.

IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT- Eye Of Mars (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT- Eye Of Mars (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube
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Matt Mills
Contributing Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.

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