Review by Jeger on February 24, 2025.

I do not romanticize New York City. Been there a few times and it's dirty, smells like piss, the people are rude and it's always been fucking freezing every time I've had the displeasure of visiting. There are plenty of places to get weed but I'd be too scared to try and buy anything else. I'm a DC guy. We're tough, just not NY tough… Yes, there's a lot of history and it speaks through faded street signs, old train tracks and through burly roughnecks in tough old Burgs. There's the hustle and bustle of a bazillion lives scurrying the boulevards and a sense of old fashioned hometown pride that runs deeper than the oldest subways. An allure? Most definitely. You just gotta scrape through a few layers of shit to get to it… The triumvirate, Imperial Triumphant, have made it their modus operandi to explore NYC and NYC only with their art. It's something like black metal but in a really annoying ultra-progressive avant-garde respect. Remarkably talented and way ahead of any and all curves are Imperial Triumphant. Yes, I said their music is annoying too…

Just imagine if Anaal Nathrakh took a bunch of acid and recorded an album. Maybe some meth too… retarded heavy and yet frantic as a fucking panic attack. Jeez… On March 21, Imperial Triumphant will release Goldstar via Century Media. There are various parts to this album that sound good and a number of parts that do not, such as the finger-snapping intro to "Gomorrah Nouveau" and all the subsequent nonsense that ensues; this almost Riddler from Batman sort of mischievousness in riffing and flagrant bass abuse… Take it easy on 'er fella, carrying over to a Meshuggah's Tomas Haake-dominated "Lexington Delirium". How progressive is too progressive and how much is too much when it comes to percussion. Yes, drummers have been all fucking uppity for a while now and Tomas here is our number one offender, but damn is the brother good. Dave Lombardo also contributes to "Pleasuredome" alongside Haake in some kind of double-drum attack that wells into an onslaught of impossibly heavy riffs. Take in the sounds of the urban backdrop as it all fades into the foreground: the bass, the brutish Entombed-level grooves and some Gojira worship to seal the deal.

I can imagine that life in the Big Apple can be about as chaotic as what I'm hearing here. Doesn't feel very Gotham at all through most of it aside from some various beatnik-esque visuals-inducing interludes that strike up images of lipstick and cigarettes, Cutty Sark bottles and surly drunken regulars in that place on the corner. I've never listened to this band because I hate their image and I can honestly say I haven't missed out on too much, aside from maybe an anxiety attack or one of those annoying behind-the-eyes headaches. Goldstar? I guess it sounds neat, what with all that weird shit going on? Bordering on genius and masturbation if you ask me.

The visuals are what make Goldstar so unique. You will see NYC, both from inside its historic buildings and out upon its bustling streets, but you inevitably also get jackhammered again in the head with some really overbearing and mechanically repetitive shit. People waste their talents on the most bizarre things and sometimes you can find black metal in the most peculiar places. I'd give this one a listen because it is some very avant-garde material that's bound to at the very least impress the hell out of you. Busting with dynamics like those DC dub bags from back in the day is Goldstar. Do those costumes make them really tall and big like those turtle guys in The Fifth Element? Or are they meant to just look like something out of Bioshock Infinite? I'm on a roll here…

Rating: 6.5 out of 10