Imperial Triumphant

Imperial Triumphant is a New York avant-garde metal trio who blend black and death metal with dissonant, jazz-inflected harmony and an art deco look, all aimed at portraying the grandeur and decay of their home city. Their gold-masked stage costumes and a catalogue that includes Vile Luxury and Alphaville have made them one of the more recognisable names in experimental extreme metal, though still a cult act rather than a mainstream one. Expect dense, off-kilter, technically demanding material rather than straightforward blast-beat aggression, so this suits listeners who like their metal angular and unpredictable.