Band: Imperial Vengeance
Title: At The Going Down Of The Sun
Label: Candlelight Records
Distribution: Plastic Head Distribution
Release date: 20/07/2009
Review: CD

The British formation Imperial Vengeance was formed in 2007 by C. Edward-Alexander and David Bryan. Throughout the past two years, the duo became a ‘real band’, including (former) Worms Of Sabnock and Shotgun Affair-members, and they did release their debut album, which was called Death: August & Royal, in early 2008. This second full length, lasting for an hour, was recorded, mixed and mastered by Brett Caldas-Lima, known for his assistance to bands as To-Mera, Forest Stream, Xerath, Malmonde or Kalisia, to name but a few. And the result overpowers the debut! The lyrical approach mainly stays the same. It deals with (the glory days of) the British Empire, principally the historic period between the end of the eighteenth century and World War II. The approach differs somewhat, which means that the wide range of historical influences include elements from war / wars and victories, literature, exploration, mythology etc.

At The Going Down Of The Sun is varying. That’s a fact. Death: August & Royal was brought with lots of variation, but this album opens new portals towards candlelit spheres. After the semi-orchestral intro The Drop, 6th Airborne Division brings a rhythmic and fast form of warlike and blackened Death Metal with a modern approach, some Dimmu Borgir-alike keyboard parts and tempo-changes and a blood-shedded atmosphere. Tracks like Aristocratic Sex Magick and Theory Of The Grotesque remind me a lot to a band as (early) Vesania, yet Imperial Vengeance include a wide variation of elements and influences. The band gracefully combines aggressive Black and Death Metal parts with bombastic or orchestral, then again neo-classical, mesmerizing or electronic keyboards. The latter shows another possible comparison: Limbonic Art. The different intros, intermezzos and / or outros, as well as the sublime changes in tempo and melody / structure, act in a perfect relationship with the brutal, epic and / or theatrical Metal-rawness. Each time it’s well-thought and perfectly performed. There are so many different layers behind every song, yet again it gently forces you to dare to explore.

Besides the intro, the album consists of one other instrumental and non-Metal track, From Childhood’s Hour, built around a desolate piano- and violin-line. Both tracks last for four and a half minute together, which means that the average duration of the grotesque Metal-hymns clock around seven minutes. But believe me: it’s worth every single second of it!

For fans of: Vesania, Dimmu Borgir, Marduk, Behemoth, Limbonic Art, Emperor, Dark Funeral etc.

93/100

Ivan Tibos.