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The avant-garde metal of Imperial Triumphant returns to the Basement in Copenhagen with the Vile Luxury Redux 1924 Tour.
Opening Act: Michael Ellis
Opening the concert is Michael Ellis, a local duo composed of guitar and drums/drum machine that offers psychedelic post-rock with electronic incursions and long ambient sessions.
The duo is composed, but with a desire to amaze with new sounds and a strong visual impact. Despite their detached style and use of masks, they manage to effectively connect with the audience, and introduce us to a concert where melody and experimentation will be prevalent.
Vile Luxury Redux 1924 Live
The children of the titan Atlas have planned ample space to explore their chemistry and offer us free melodic experiments. In fact, the setlist, consisting of only five tracks, includes only three songs from Vile Luxury and the classic Atomic Age as an encore.
The venue is perfect for this purpose: raw, industrial, with a low stage and the crowd closely gathered around the band.
The audio setup is (perhaps intentionally) imperfect but functional to support this very special show.
The guitar is lower than heard in previous concerts and blends with the bass and drums, while the growling vocals are reduced to a supporting sound. Zachary proudly flanks with Steve and Kenny in a show where every instrument is leveled equally. Kenny’s drums and Steve’s thumping bass often create dark free jazz beats in a show characterized by several rhythmic percussion sessions. The sensorial feeling of the beat connects well with the audience providing an energetic feeling in crowd.
The New York trio is at ease in the small underground venue, with Steve jumping in the audience to bringing the music directly into the pit.
Compared to the previous show for the Mother Of Greed European Tour 2022 in the Liberty-style room of Hotel Cecil, we are involved in a more deconstructed and creative performance, where contact with the audience is maximized. After the show, the artists stayed for a long time to meet the attendees.
Certainly, the human factor makes this show a rare experience nowadays and highlights even more one of the most special aspects of this band: the desire to create a collective experience around their music.
When I started listening to Imperial Triumphant, I was very impressed by their technique and musical innovation on the magnificent album Alphaville. With this concert, I unexpectedly discover them as a live band capable of offering unrepeatable musical experiences.
We take advantage of their availability for a brief interview with bassist Steve Blanco.
The interview with Steve Blanco
We head to the backstage of Basement, the punk walls, and the strange mix of red and blue lights await us to make our video interview special.
During the interview, the collaboration with Trey Spruance (Mr. Bungle and solo) is mentioned, who contributed to the production of the albums Alphaville and Spirit of Ecstasy.
We allow ourselves to talk for a few minutes about cinema with Steve, a great enthusiast, who contributed to many of the band’s music videos.
We comment and close this report with Atomic Age, one of the songs that best symbolizes the music of this trio.
Set list
Chump Change
Chernobyl Blues
Swarming Opulence
Lower World
Encore:
Atomic Age
