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IMPERIAL CULT

"Rise Of Yalamber" EP

All music written and produced by Imperial Cult

All lyrics by Vaskar Pradhan, and "Pain Of Mortals" by Bipen Thapa

01. Rise of Yalamber

02. Pain of Mortals

03. The Abomination

04. Black Stone

Triratna Gyalpo Moktan : Drums

New Old School from Himalaya.

Now sincerely... what do you think of when you hear the word "Darjeeling"? Right: tea plantations, and "Darjeeling tea" as one of the best type of (mainly black) teas. We tend to forget that the name comes from the Indian town Darjeeling, located in West Bengal, in North-East India, near Nepal, in an Himalayan hill region where the Mount Everest is already visible in cloudless days. Finally, we hardly know about the existence of an Extreme Metal scene in this zone, we hardly know the existence of metal festivals like Darjeeling Summer Death Fest and we hardly know that well prepared natives of West Bengal ground challenging  metal bands. One of these bands is Imperial Cult, formed in February 2012 in Kolkata (West Bengal) whose members comes from Darjeeling. I was really impressed by the quality of this new emerging band and , in general, by the passion of the scene of North-East India and Nepal. 

Fact is that Blackened Death Metallers Imperial Cult are very interesting. They say their influences  include Behemoth, Vader, Naglfar, Emperor and Belphegor. I would also add Sacramentum. Vocals are based on a strong, raspy  growling and the music shows a good balance of melodic tunes and melodic solos as well as aggressive raw energy, framed in old school Melodic Black/Death. Tempo-changes and fierce riffs are generously bestowed. Technically, drums and the dual guitar system are striking.

The opener of this  EP (also the single) is Rise Of Yalamber, based on the mythological and religious figures of  King Yalamber and  Lord Krishna. The short intro of this song throws us into an epic battle, while then the music develops the love of this band for the Old School of Death/Black Metal. Distortion, sense of dread, simple but clearly composed passages, lots of tempo changes, tremolos and essential sonorities bring us back in time. Pain Of Mortals is characterized by ravenous drumming, by angry vocals and an explosive solo, everything set on a carpet of brutality.   The Abomination  is mighty and unleashes evilness and fear; its blasting drumming is punishing and technically amazing. The Abomination can conciliate rawness and melody with unpredictable tempo changes, that make this song remarkable.

Black Stone shows again  the characteristics of the Old School together with  an already mature ability in composing music with a fierce yet melodic  personal touch. The technicality of the band, concerning drumming and  guitars is simply impressing. In Black Stone  the guitarists are able to produce a wide range of sonorities.

Imperial Cult has been playing shows in Kolkata, Darjeeling and Nepal. Imperial Cult has been  featured in an international compilation by SNRMB nepal (https://www.facebook.com/metalworlzzzzzzzzz) entitled “RAKTAPYAS – II (GLORY OF DEATH)” (http://snrmbnepal.blogspot.in/2014/07/raktapyas-ii-glory-of-death-article.html)  alongside bands like Nervecell (U.A.E), Dying Out Flame (Nepal), Kartikeya (Russia), Narsamhaar (Nepal), Puteraeon (Sweden), Bidroha (Nepal), Binaash (Nepal), Turbocharged (Sweden) and many more. 

Give Imperial Cult a try if you like the "old good times"! Imperial Cult are young, motivated, talented, ready to conquer the West and ready to evolution. Therefore I am already  looking forward to  their next release.

8/10

Review by dalia di giacomo

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