IMPERIAL AGE – Live In London – review – symphonic metal

IMPERIAL AGE – Live In London – review
Atlantean Records

Must be over ten years since I briefly encountered Imperial Age. Back then they were a Russian symphonic metal band, plying their trade out of Moscow. They’re now based in Northampton. Which must be a helluva culture shock.

They’ve had a revolving cast of musicians over the years but the two mainstays are Alexander “Aor” Osipov and Jane Odintsova. Now, I enjoy a bit of hyperbole, so their claim that “We are the descendants of Atlantis, weaving ancient lore into modern music. From pyramids to breakdowns – explore our world”, is right up my street.

Hence, I’m listening to “Live In London”. Which is very much nominative determinism. It’s also a CD release of a DVD / Blu-Ray and there are some clumsy between song edits, presumably to squeeze it onto a CD, but the music remains intact. Remarkably, this is their fourth live release despite only having four studio albums to their name. Which is nice, although if you’ve got “Live New World”, “Live On Earth” or “Live In Wroclaw” you might want to think about whether you need this one.

Anyway, whoever happened to be in the band when this was recorded at The Dome in, surprise, London have done a bang up job. It was part of the bands very own Imperial Age Festival which saw them headlining a six band bill. A testament to their independent work ethic. Like many bands of their ilk they incorporate Celtic and folk moods to their metal sound, and as a Celtic chap I always enjoy this. But they also have moments of brutality and a few nods to prog and power metal, hither and thither, so there’s nothing to scare off an ardent metalhead.

The twin vocal approach is also a staple of the scene but when it works, it works well. And it works well here. There’s plenty of highlights with ‘Death Guard’ of off “Warrior Race” and the actual, 18 minute, epic ‘Call Of The Towers’ from “New World”, my favourites. They’re currently working on a new studio album but this is a good reminder of what they get up to.

A word to the wise. It’s not actually listed on their, incomplete, website discography. You have to go into the shop to find it.

Imperial Age are on the internet.