Style: progressive black metal, avant-garde metal, dissonant death metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Gorguts, Charles Mingus, Oranssi Pazuzu, Blut Aus Nord, Ulcerate
Country: New York, United States
Release date: 21 March 2025

Imperial Triumphant have artfully captured life in the Big Apple with their music for over a decade now, and their music—like the city itself—is dichotomous, a portrayal of the vileness and luxury of life in the greatest city on earth. The band’s groundbreaking mix of discordant dissonant metal, atonal jazz, and gleaming Art Deco exterior is cerebral: Imperial Triumphant is an acquired taste like black coffee¹, grimy but energizing, for the working class and the elites alike. Dating back to my neonatal dissonant metal-loving form in 2020, I knew Imperial Triumphant would be a permanent favorite of mine². I’ve discussed them endlessly with unwilling friends and family, given them an uber-rare 10/10 for Alphaville³, and even written a thirteen-page term paper on the band and their usage of free jazz in metal as an embodiment of their NYC-centric philosophy. 

Goldstar is a conceptual and musical reframing for the New York power trio with an emphasis placed on how the material will sound in a live setting. This materializes as a punchier Imperial Triumphant: tighter song lengths, more cutthroat, riffier. While no stranger to the Almighty Riff on Alphaville and Spirit of Ecstasy, Imperial Triumphant lay down a new barbed focus on guitar parts and punchy rhythms on Goldstar, hitting with the force of King Kong. For example, “Gomorrah Nouveaux” opens with an intricate percussive rhythm courtesy of North African gnawa while Ezrin hypnotically chugs the pattern in disgusted agreement. The track never relents the punishing, Meshuggah-esque march except in a dramatic grand pause around a minute in. Thankfully despite the increased emphasis on staccato, precise guitar parts across Goldstar, Ezrin’s playing still uses atonal jazz technique to dizzying effect—as on the gritty “Rot Moderne” and the slow-burning “Lexington Delirium.” He also opts to play outright melodies more than on previous releases, his parts twice breaking free of the noisy chaos to recognizable tunes: a Handel motif weaves through the main melody of “Hotel Sphinx,” and the closer “Industry of Misery” ends with an extended jam around The Beatles’ heaviest track, “I Want You (She’s so Heavy).”

Recorded in only five days as the final project produced at Colin Marston’s legendary Queens-based Menegroth studio, the frantic, improvisatory moments scattered throughout Goldstar successfully capture the energy of a live performance. The Dada-ist grindcore track “NEWYORKCITY” is a thirty-second burst of sound, embodying the city that never sleeps with studio-adjusted improvised chaos. Sound clips of sirens, spoken word, and the ominous groan of buildings are also mainstays of Goldstar. You’re never left in doubt that you’re still in the city so nice they named it twice while listening to Imperial Triumphant. 

Steve Blanco on bass and Kenny Grohowski on drums are a rhythm duo from heaven playing in hell. Long my favorite drummer, Grohowski throws everything at this album from black metal blasts more common than on any previous release to unceasing Meshuggah rhythms, from delicate jazz cymbals to Brazilian Maracatu. He’s got backup from Thomas Haake (Meshuggah) on “Lexington Delirium” and “Pleasuredome” as well as from Dave Lombardo (Slayer) on “Pleasuredome” although neither is a highlight (I reckon no matter who you are it’s gotta be impossible to keep up with Kenny Grohowski). Blanco’s highlight occurs when he takes smooth leads from the jagged playing of Ezrin, such as on “Hotel Sphinx” or on “Lexington Delirium”—you can see him play the latter in the Chrysler Building itself in the music video for the track. 

Keeping in theme with this release cycle’s live-performance focus, the trio once again unfurled new masks to up the theatricality—glossy Art Deco pieces at home within the architecture of the Chrysler Building. Yet despite the album title, donning of new golden masks, and finally recording at the Chrysler building like the band had dreamed of for years, Imperial Triumphant have lost some of the gilded luster of previous releases. Opener “Eye of Mars” has the brassy undertones of Vile Luxury’s opener “Swarming Opulence,” but it’s more drowned out by the guitar, losing the urbane impact of the brass. Goldstar lacks Steve Blanco’s regal piano-playing, opting instead for Krallice-y synths, and although they are awesome, they lack the glittery pizazz of high-life in The Capital of the World. In a similar fashion, I wish Goldstar had more of a jazz focus because while the influence is still clear—and this realization of Imperial Triumphant isn’t lacking anything—I struggle to acclimate to the relative lack of jazz. Goldstar doesn’t contain any tracks like the late-era John Coltrane-coded “In the Pleasure of Their Company” from Spirit of Ecstasy or the transcendent freeness of “Chernobyl Blues”—except for the thirty-second unconfined grindcore track, of course. 

Tightening up songwriting for a more approachable package—particularly with an emphasis on playing the tracks live—certainly doesn’t guarantee a band is selling out: Pyrrhon and Scarcity both placed highly on my year-end list last year despite a significant boost in their accessibility. Goldstar is still a complex and cultured metal record; Imperial Triumphant’s riffs are stronger than ever before; and at thirty-nine minutes the album is easy to listen to on repeat. So while Goldstar isn’t as transcendent nor stately as the golden packaging would have you think, basking in the filthy riffage and potent songwriting is luxurious in its own way.

Recommended tracks: Gomorrah Nouveaux, Hotel Sphinx, Rot Moderne, Industry of Misery
You may also like: Ashenspire, Pyrrhon, Krallice, A Forest of Stars, Thantifaxath, Dodecahedron, Kostnateni, Sarmat, Scarcity, Voices
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Century Media Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Imperial Triumpahnt is:
Zachary Ezrin – Vocals, Guitar
Steve Blanco – Bass
Kenny Grohowski – Drums

1. Once, Imperial Triumphant released their own blend of coffee as merch (which I did purchase and brew). Isn’t that the coolest merch item ever, though?? ︎
2. Never mind that there is documented evidence of a younger and stupider version of me in the Angry Metal Guy comments of Alphaville calling the record appreciatable but not enjoyable, an “uncomfortable” experience. The love affair between Imperial Triumphant and me wasn’t immediate. ︎
3.  Strong 9.5 for the followup Spirit of Ecstasy ︎

The post Review: Imperial Triumphant – Goldstar appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Thrash metal, progressive metal, black metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Vektor, Coroner, Hellripper, Warbringer
Country: Netherlands
Release date: 7 March 2025

After splitting an EP with progressive thrash legends Vektor, Cryptosis burst onto the scene in 2021 with its debut full-length effort, Bionic Swarm.¹ The album unleashed thirty-seven minutes of balls-to-the-wall, technical thrash. There were some hints of the band’s status as relative neophytes—Bionic Swarm felt a little one-speed, lacking versatility in composition and staying within a narrow sonic range—but on the whole, Cryptosis had wrought a distinctive sound and positioned itself among the genre’s upper echelon. 

Having enjoyed the debut and believing that its sound still had plenty of room to develop, I made a mental note to keep an eye out for the band’s next release. I then totally missed a 2023 EP,² confirming that mental notes are useless, and stumbled upon Cryptosis again recently after news of Celestial Death, the band’s sophomore LP. My personal wishlist for the release (perhaps not a fair thing to impose) centered on expanded songwriting: I wanted rhythmic variety, more texture or atmosphere, and further exploration in song structure—essentially, some compositional meat on those tech-thrash bones. Although the debut was rock solid, I felt Cryptosis was capable of something more epic. Would Celestial Death avoid the dreaded sophomore slump and deliver?

After an obligatory opening minute of instrumental ambiance,³ Cryptosis launches into “Faceless Matter” with the same frenetic style as the last album—except within about thirty seconds it’s apparent that the band has turned the volume up on the mellotron and synth and leaned heavily into atmospherics. The sound is overtly blackened, with some combination of synth, mellotron, and choral effects featured prominently, even taking a lead role in the verse. Minutes later, the band slows things down in a short bridge, followed by a melodic guitar lead soaring over thrashy drumming. Everything is recognizably Cryptosis, but the sound is larger and more dynamic than before—it seems the wishes on my list are being granted.

Celestial Death’s biggest evolution comes in how heavily black metal is woven throughout. “Static Horizon” and “The Silent Call” are just as black as they are thrash, featuring brooding atmospheric passages and biting tremolo riffs—and “Absent Presence” might not be categorizable as thrash at all, with sections drenched in something bordering on ambient black metal. Meanwhile, much of “Ascending,” a standout track, wouldn’t be too out of place on a middle-era Enslaved record, and an instrumental track closes the album with a melodic-black feel. This massive infusion of black metal only hinted at in Bionic Swarm is executed well and broadens Celestial Death’s sonic scope tremendously. 

But fans of Cryptosis’s brand of thrash fear not: you can put on that old sleeveless band tee and battle jacket. “Reign of Infinite” and “In Between Realities” bring as much energy as the debut album, as does the especially techy “Cryptosphere.” And there’s no shortage of fiery riffing amidst the darker, synth and mellotron-led passages—even if the guitars rely more on tremolos this time around. The bass continues to punch with sharp licks, the raspy vocals continue to growl through expectedly sci-fi lyrics, and the drums continue to rip. The drumming on “Ascending” is particularly slick, quickly trading off between the hi-hat and ride in a way that complements the guitar’s melodic tremolo picking and delivering nasty fills every few bars. While Celestial Death is more atmospheric and better-paced than its predecessor, it’s still an incredibly aggressive record.

Celestial Death, however, doesn’t quite have the matching shift in production to fit Cryptosis’s stylistic expansion. Like Bionic Swarm, every instrument is loud and pushed toward the front, a technique that better fits the rawer debut. To be sure, Celestial Death still sounds clear and powerful; it can be just a little loud and overwhelming in sections where each instrument is playing full bore. Otherwise, there’s not much to nit-pick here—the album might not offer anything truly transcendent, and like much thrash, the vocals can be a tad repetitive in tone and delivery, particularly during choruses (“Cryptosphere” as an example). A touch of vocal variety would have helped expand the band’s sound that extra bit further. 

In the four years intervening between Cryptosis’s rookie and sophomore efforts, the band has matured, channeling its exuberance into a product with greater compositional and sonic depth. Many feel that modern thrash lacks intrigue, and Celestial Death injects the genre with a blackened tech variety that’s robust enough to rise above most of the scene. And still, I’d bet on Cryptosis continuing on an upward trajectory and delivering something even more ambitious next release. Rather than leave it to a mental note, I’ll write it down this time: Cryptosis is one to continue to watch.

Recommended tracks: Ascending, Reign of Infinite, In Between Realities
You may also like: Demoniac, Paranorm, VENUS
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Century Media Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Cryptosis is:
– Frank te Riet (bass, mellotron, synthesizers, backing vocals)
– Marco Prij (drums)
– Laurens Houvast (vocals, guitars, spoken words)

1. Although Bionic Swarm was Cryptosis’s debut LP, the same three members had released two albums without much fanfare as a self-described old-school thrash act named Distillator. After drifting away from typical thrash and honing its own style, the band changed its name and, shortly after signing with Century Media Records, released Bionic Swarm as the first full-length album of a new band.  ︎
2. After listening to this EP recently, it turns out I didn’t miss too much: two new tracks, and two live ones. The first new track, “The Silent Call,” did signal the band’s heavier shift into black metal discussed below, and a version of it appears on the new album. ︎
3. Every thrash or tech album I’ve reviewed in the last couple of months—those by Exuvial, Synaptic, HARP, and now Cryptosis—has begun this way, as do too many others. It’s not an offensive way to start an album and provides something to walk out to at live performances, but in my opinion it rarely adds any value and has become trite. In my world as a corporate schlub, it’s the equivalent of an email that begins with the phrase: “I hope this email finds you well.” ︎

The post Review: Cryptosis – Celestial Death appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: brutal death metal, progressive death metal, technical death metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Hate Eternal, Cattle Decapitation, Job for a Cowboy, Rivers of Nihil
Country: Oregon, United States
Release date: 26 January 2024

From the very first guitar driven musings of opener “Shame and its Afterbirth,” one gets the sense that Suffer & Become is an album that needed to be made, as though Vitriol and its frontman Kyle Rasmussen were a cyst taut with all the anger and anxieties of the modern age ready to burst at slightest prodding. From each track, wickedly technical riffage and densely metaphorical lyrics spew forth propelled by the sheer rage of Rasmussen’s guitar and vocal deliveries, the absolutely gravitational drum performance by Matt Kilner of Nithing and Inquisitous Deeds, and the hefty bass and backing vocals of Adam Roethlisberger. While the pure density of riffs across this album is quite unlike anything—the nearest comparison I can draw would be Hate Eternal if Erik Rutan took a nap in a rapid evolution chamber for a few thousand years—the album toes the fine line between intensity and incomprehensibility.

As its title suggests, Suffer & Become is as transcendent as it is brutal, and it is from that friction that some of the best moments on this album are born. The solos on tracks like “Shame and its Afterbirth” and the “The Isolating Lie of Learning Another” (Did I mention this album has the hardest track names?) are such moments where Rasmussen’s almost desperate style of lead work hits the listener like the dawn after a long night of contemplating suicide. Be it the neoclassical sweeping that closes out “Shame…” or the aching upper fretboard stabs that occur in “The Isolating Lie…” Rasmussen treats each chance at a solo as though it were his swan song. Even the more chaotic solos a la Kerry King have a propulsion that pushes hard and fast into the song’s next passage, a regular failing of shred based solos. I could prattle on about the lead work on this album for a very long time, but to put it shortly it is refreshing to hear leads so unique in a genre as convergent as technical death metal. Besides, the leadwork is not the only thing providing this album’s sublime qualities. Tracks like “Survival’s Careening Inertia” and “He Will Fight Savagely” (Again with those song titles!) both feature building song structures where the awe comes not from single elements but from the heft of the band operating as a whole, much in the same way that several tracks off of Rivers of Nihil’s Where Owls Know My Name operate.

Working in tandem with the instrumentals are the album’s lyrics. While Rasmussen and Roethlisberger enunciate just enough for me to catch the odd word or two, I had to follow along with the lyrics to get the full picture, and I am sure glad that I did. Those familiar with my review style know how little weight I often place on lyrics, so it takes something special to make me pay attention. That being said, every single line features a unique and vivid turn of phrase that I can’t help but ponder long after I stop listening. The track “Nursing from the Mother Wound” is particularly notable for this; I’ll never again view disdain as anything other than a “burdening mantle.”

Ultimately, Suffer & Become delivers the full package. The harmony between its themes, lyrics, and instrumentals, the gorgeous artwork, and clearly meticulous effort that went into its creation all combine to create what is without a doubt my favorite album of 2024, a true testament to the genre of death metal and of music as a whole as a cohesive art form. The theme of evolution through hardship is one often attempted in the metal genre, but never before has it been so fully realized so truthfully and vividly. Vitriol has crafted a work that truly challenges the artistic boundaries of technical death metal. In a genre often obsessed with complexity for its own sake, this is a rare reminder of the raw emotion and storytelling that make metal an enduring art form. A masterpiece like this doesn’t deserve to be missed—it demands to be heard.

Recommended tracks: Shame and its Afterbirth, The Isolating Lie of Learning Another
You may also like: Afterbirth, Hideous Divinity, Black Crown Initiate
Final verdict: 10/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Century Media Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Vitriol is:
– Adam Roethlisberger (bass, vocals)
– Kyle Rasmussen (guitars, vocals)
– Matt Kilner (drums)
– Stephen Ellis (guitars)

The post Review: Vitriol – Suffer & Become appeared first on The Progressive Subway.

Style: Progressive metal, post metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Cult of Luna, Gojira, The Ocean, Textures
Country: Iceland
Release date: 22 November 2024

Is there a more prog metal coded country than Iceland? An icy volcanic rock where the earth literally boils with sulphuric pools and the sky regularly puts on ionic light shows. Where the heat and electricity is supplied by the awesome power of plate tectonics, where in the summer the sun doesn’t set, and in the winter it doesn’t even rise. A place of hostility and beauty in equal measure is, surely, the progressive metal promise. Iceland’s tiny population, which falls a little short of 400,000, have made a disproportionate impact on music—Sigur Rós, Sólstafir, Agent Fresco, etc.—and now it’s M​ú​r’s turn to represent the land of fire and ice.

Doomy opener “Eldhaf” channels the languorous beauty of Devin Townsend’s iconic “Deadhead” with Haraldsson’s plaintive cleans gliding atop gazy riffs. However gorgeous it may be, it’s a somewhat unrepresentative opener as the band begin to demonstrate on the title track (“M​ú​r” by M​ú​r from the album M​ú​r—“M​ú​r” M​ú​r M​ú​r¹); M​ú​r’s sound is usually far heavier, with an enormous wall of sound, mountainous growls, Gojira-esque grooves, and buzzing, ominous synth work all battering the listener. Shorter tracks like “Messa” and “Frelsari” showcase the band at their most brutal and energetic, while the more expansive works layer on atmosphere and build to typically epic post-metal crescendos in the vein of Cult of Luna.

M​ú​r’s greatest asset is frontman Kári Haraldsson whose vocals are absolutely monstrous. His pitched screams sit somewhere between Joe Duplantier (Gojira) and Devin Townsend, and his growls are as guttural as Randy Blythe’s (Lamb of God). His cleans, too, have a strident sense of force, with lyrics all in Icelandic. Haraldsson also handles synths and keytar which provide an unexpected but distinctive texture, like the ionospheric glamour of the aurora over the volcanic Icelandic landscape. The synth swells on “Heimsslit” drone ominously like harbingers of apocalypse, while the atmospheric break later in the song feels almost like someone put on Tangerine Dream, and the alarm call of the synth on “Messa” is ripped straight out of a rave where The Prodigy are headlining. “Vitrun” is underpinned by a constant synth pulse, providing a powerful sense of dread which ultimately explodes into a keytar solo that would sit comfortably in the discography of Frost*. 

If Haraldsson is M​ú​r’s USP, everyone else is working away more subtly to elevate the tracks. Drummer Árni Jökull Guðbjartsson shines brightest on the punchier tracks where he can work the kit harder (“Messa” features some ridiculous fills), and the guitar and bass work of Árnason, Ragnarsson and Klausen thrives on djenty grooves and crushing riffs with unusual chord choices to keep the listener on their toes, while tracks like “Frelsari” and “Eldhaf” feature some fantastic tapping-oriented guitar solos ala Gojira. The showstopping moments tend to be in the vocals and synth, but the interplay of the rest of the band is incredibly tight—on their debut, M​ú​r possess the synchronicity and confidence of a band who are a solid four albums into their career; it’s no wonder that Century Media Records signed them straight away. 

Despite using a band photo in which they look like baby-faced Metallica² as their album cover, M​ú​r have crafted an astonishingly mature and assured debut, evocative of the Icelandic landscape—volatile yet stoic, desolate yet beautiful—and apocalyptic in grandeur; a testament to the powers of this fledgling group. With grandiose metal grooves, electrifying synth, and a vocal performance that ranks among the best of the year, M​ú​r have come out of the gate running with a sound wholly their own—a late gamechanger in the 2024 release slate—and a record that sorely deserves your attention before the year is out.

Recommended tracks: Vitrun, Frelsari, Eldhaf, Heimsslit
You may also like: Seyr, Sikasa, Hippotraktor
Final verdict: 8/10

1. As Andrea True once sang. ︎
2. From left to right: Jason Newsted, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, white Rob Trujillo, Kirk Hammett. Sorry guys. 
   ︎

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

Label: Century Media Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

M​ú​r is:
– Kári Haraldsson (vocals, keytar, synthesisers)
– Árni Jökull Guðbjartsson (drums)
– Hilmir Árnason (guitars)
– Ívar Klausen (bass)
– Jón Ísak Ragnarsson (guitars)

The post Review: M​ú​r – M​ú​r appeared first on The Progressive Subway.