After Imperial Triumphant's dizzying dissonance reached its most obtuse peaks on 2022’s dense, knotted Spirit Of Ecstasy, it was difficult to see where NYC’s avant-garde trio could go next. Having doggedly toured the festival circuit since, and re-familiarised themselves with the classic songwriting chops of Metallica and Rush on last year’s covers EP, they’ve taken a relatively more accessible approach for their fifth full-length. Of course, you won’t find any radio-friendly choruses or pop hooks here, but there is a notably more immediate, visceral edge to these songs.
The pulverising opener Eye Of Mars and Pleasuredome, featuring both Dave Lombardo and Meshuggah drummer Thomas Haake, make room for gnarly, eminently headbangable death metal riffs among their usual jazzy skronk. Hotel Sphinx kicks off with triumphant heavy metal trills played at blistering pace, like blasting a late-period Death record at double speed, before traversing fusion-informed soundscapes and brutish, Gorguts-esque chugs in under five minutes.
This more economic style of songwriting reaches its logical conclusion on the 47-second improvised grindcore banger Newyorkcity, complete with searingly intense vocals from Bloody Panda’s Yoshiko Ohara. The band’s trademark sprawl creeps back in during expansive closer Industry Of Misery, but even then, there’s space for a crowd-pleasingly bluesy, foot-on-the-monitor guitar lead.
However, that’s before those sultry licks eventually get weirder and weirder, until they resemble the sound of a UFO taking off more than any stringed instrument. Goldstar is easily Imperial Triumphant’s most focused and direct release so far, chock-full of riff-centric bangers that don’t sacrifice any of the band’s extraordinary musicianship or surreal aesthetic.
Existing fans will lap this up, but even those who usually find the band too abstract should find much to latch onto here.
Goldstar is out March 21 via Century Media
