Shrine to the Trident Throne

American black metal ensemble Imperial Triumphant are a true monster of the contemporary scene. This 2014 collection, enigmatically entitled “Shrine to the Trident Throne,” includes the 2012 full length “Aboninamentvm” along with 2013’s “Goliath” EP. It also has to be some of the most punishing and acidic black metal that America can offer the world, while also doing its part to be intelligent and literate. In addition, the band and its music also fufill the “mysterious” impulse with gusto; look upon the haunting and almost drug induced visage of a vaguely classical mask that threatens through ceremonial smoke. The same mask is visible in some equally compelling photography online, and only adds mystique to an already obscured bandwork.

The lumbering opener ‘Hierophant’ gives way to the all out mangling of ‘Manifesto,’ (the first reference among several to the Futurist movement) which showcases a fair amount of Deathspell Omega in its chiming guitar tones and cavernous atmospheric middle section. The formula is expounded upon in the tracks that follow, none perhaps as well as ‘Bellvm,’ which uses air raid siren samples to horrifying effect and a droning framework to create a tangible sense of destruction and suffering. The use of Latin is important to the ideological positioning of the album as well, because Italian Futurism, Roman decadence and an approaching perfect storm of war and machinery are images and themes that come through in the excellent lyrics of this recording.

‘Crushing the Idol’ melds off kilter and subdued instrumental passages with exciting tremolo attacks and even mosh chords as does ‘Manifesto’ which contains some of Filippo Marinetti’s own 1909 Futurist declaration, using many of the key phrases and words a century later in the context of American Black Metal. It is an interesting choice, as Futurism is paradoxically in the past is one of the lesser known of the movements to come from the modernist vanguard (probably because several key members were killed during World War I, a war they eagerly awaited no less) and is by several measures different than its brethren. Among them War (with a capitol “W”), was seen as a positive, one that would propel society into an idealized future of machinery and dynamism. Black metal by tradition aims backwards into time, but here, like some of the more mechanized variants of the genre, the future holds promise for a martial utopia.

At the core, Futurism is still a rebellion and gleaming alternative to a materialist/pacified world a minority continue to despise. And frankly, the knowledge needed to be a (Neo?) Futurist requires more thought than ignorance. It is due to this continual conceptual erudition that black metal remains so fascinating to its admirers, and perhaps out of touch by its detractors. ‘S.P.Q.R.’ (ya know, the Roman insignia?) keeps the Italian theme going and refers in lyric to a “new Rome to burn,” again signaling a desire for the cleansing fires of destruction following megalomaniacal urges on the part of the vocal orator. Nearly everything musically on this collection hits hard and ruthlessly even if all the lyrical inspirations are ignored as well.

Since the release of this compilation, Imperial Triumphant has released a full length entitled “Abyssal Gods,” which is on this reviewer’s radar.

Originally Published In Metalegion Magazine:
www.metalegion.com/content/issue-1/