Tech Death Thursday: Imperium
Your butts are about to be conquered. Imperium are bringing it this Tech Death Thursday!
I also come bearing news:
- The Ritual Aura have released a short teaser for their upcoming album, Tæther, due out late this year. If the full album sounds anything like the clip in the trailer, this is going to be a dramatic stylistic shift from last year’s Laniakea, for better or worse.
- Bleak Flesh just unveiled the art for Overcoming Reality, which together seem to indicate that it will be a concept album about Brett Leonard’s 1992 sci-fi/horror film The Lawnmower Man. That’s probably not at all true, but c’mon, look at that thing. In any case, their music is more than solid; jam “Radial Velocity,” their single from earlier this year, and see for yourself.
- Speaking of new art, Aborted have posted the album art for Retrogore, and it’s certainly, uh, something. April is shaping up to be quite the month for death metal, though.
- Ontogeny have, for whatever reason, decided to release a music video for a song that’s over two years old. I’m not one to tell a band what to do, but I feel that time and energy could have been better spent doing… really, anything else. Writing. Touring. Masturbating. Whatever. If “Narcotize” tickles your pickle, you can listen to the rest of Hymns of Ahriman right here.
- Professional angry sound-makers Wormed have premiered two new songs over at Revolver, and they’re disgusting in the best way. Look for Krighsu on March 25th.
- Skronkcore bros Sentient have posted a new song, “Fractal Infection.” I’m reserving judgement until the full album is out, but it’s an interesting mix of dissonant death metal and deathcore. Not something I thought would work, but there it is. Cult Programs will be out sometime later this year.
- As previously mentioned by Papa Joe, Black Crown Initiate, Revocation, and Vale of Dongs have all finished recording. Redundant? Yes, but I’ll take every chance I get to make of of that band name.
I don’t know what it is, but angry tech death has really been doing it for me lately. Having recently discovered Blame and with Deformatory dropping an absolute banger of an album a couple weeks ago, I’ve put myself squarely on the path to premature spinal issues. Rather than allowing myself to recover from weeks of full-body headbanging (bodybanging?), I’ve decided to continue down that path and introduce you all to Imperium.
Much like the aforementioned bands, Sacramentum is absolutely savage, and is appropriately based around Roman history and Greek mythology. Rather than adorning their music with technical flair, Imperium drive their chariots forth with pure aggression. Everything hits with titanic force, from the Rivers of Nihil-esque vocal attack to the tandem onslaught of the drums and guitar. There are a couple moments on the record that drop in tempo, such as the end of “Eternal Imperium,” but they simply bring a different type of heaviness. In either instance, the hostility is palpable.
That’s not to say there aren’t a couple flashy moments, though. The guitar solos in particular, though few, are brilliant displays of shred. They’re similar to those found on Job For A Cowboy’s last album, but with the speed dialed up to ludicrous and tone that leaves me salivating like a feral beast. Though the drums are programmed, they’re done so expertly. I wouldn’t point to any parts as being particularly groundbreaking, but they ebb and flow with the guitars in satisfying unison.
With their second full-length on the horizon, now is a perfect time to acquaint yourself with Imperium. Sacramentum is available on Bandcamp for a mere £5, and the band can be found on Facebook. Look for Titanomachy on May 7th, and give them the Toilet’s regards. Until next week,
