A few years ago one of my best friends called me up raving about some obscure technical metal CD that he had found—I think he got it for like $3 in a shit bin at some mall when he was at the beach or something. Anyway, this dude likes maybe five bands tops, so I figured it had to be good if he was actually into it. So I jotted down the band name and album title, and when I got off the phone I found the fucker on eBay for like $2, so within a couple of days it was mine for a grand total of less than five bucks. The band was Imperium, and the album was "Too Short a Season"—their only full-length, released in 1993 by Leviathan Records. There have probably been a ton of bands called Imperium over the years, but as opposed to the shortly lived all-star black metal band of the same name, this quintet hailed from Holland in the early-90's.
Formed by a couple of ex-members of Sacrosanct (whose records I ought to own but don't, damnit), Imperium delivered a technical and progressive form of thrash metal that's pretty shocking considering it came out in 1993—it really sounds much more like something that would've hit the streets between '88 and '91. Admittedly they've got somewhat of a weak recording that's pretty thin, but it's worth getting used to for the weird ass songwriting! The material is aptly thrashy but balanced with an openly melodic side, dropping some great vocal harmonies as well as some of the squealing high-pitched action more associated with these types of bands (the same goes for the solos). Their totally wacky sense of dissonance and fucked up changes is perhaps lightly comparable to a more over the top Anacrusis, but the closer you listen to some of the song arrangements the more bizarre they seem. It may take a few listens, but trust me, this shit totally grows on you and becomes more intense and enjoyable as you gradually adjust to their approach.
Imperium "Silenced"
Imperium "Too Short a Season"
Two former members of Imperium are presently in a new band called Sphere of Souls (so was the drummer , but he quit), who apparently recorded their debut full-length last month. The material is slated for release sometime this year, but I can't for the life of me find any mention of what label it will be on, nor a website for the band. If anyone knows anything, please shoot me an email. (Edit: Several of the band members have emailed me to let me know that there is a website for Sphere of Souls. The recordings are almost complete and the band has yet to decide on a label, but a 2005 release is still planned.) I assume it'll be along similar lines, only more modern—but then again: In 1993 Imperium sounded like they would've been much more at home during the golden age of thrash, so maybe Sphere of Souls will pull another rabbit out of the ol' hat?
In the meantime, I'm blown away that you can still find brand new copies of this unnoticed gem from big name retailers, though your best bet is probably to go ahead and grab it used, because holy shit is it usually cheap:
Hopefully some of you cats who were into the Realm mp3's will dig this, too? Talk about "too short a season"... I really wish these guys had done another record.
Comments
Wow, those tunes were something else. I’m confused as to whether I should raise goat horns or bust out laughing. The changes between cool dissonance and soaring Dream Theater-esque vocals are *so* abrupt. I’m reminded of Damn the Machine, but with more cheese.
6.10.2005 | By Cosmo
Hell yes! I love Damn the Machine, heh, I was planning to post about them sometime as well!
6.11.2005 | By Andrew Aversionline
I gave these guys a shot but i honestly cant get over the vocals.
6.12.2005 | By jake
I should have posted about this earlier but I hadn’t noticed the Imperium stuff until today… pretty confusing with all the different Imperiums around too. Anyway the the guitar sound on these tracks is fantastic - really sharp with a nasty jagged feel to it.
6.13.2005 | By Mike S.
I have four things to say: listen to the panning on the second verse of To The Things That Were and try to deal with the fact that they took the time to write that (that’s something I’ve been dealing with for years), then deal with the first note of the solo, harmonized with the vocals, and deal with the fact that that exists. By the way, the album was discovered in an urban sprawl shitty New Orleans suburb at a shitty record chain in the used bin. Why is it that I get e-mails from Bank of America and you get e-mails from members of Imperium?
6.17.2006 | By The Screamin' Armenian
Hey there,
I have to totally agree with you on that one. The panning in that verse is awesome, especially considering the fact that it was played by two guitarists (who are also brothers) long before the days of ProTools and Logic. I’ve been listening to this album intensively since André Vuurboom gave me a copy four years ago and I still hear something new every time I play it. It never loses its appeal or unique quality.
Incidentally, shortly after the album’s release, guitarist Rob Cerrone (now one of my bandmates in Sphere of Souls) left the band to further pursue his education. The band continued as a four-piece and morphed into the even more experimental Souls of Inbetween. They recorded one demo under this name, which - despite being voted demo of the month in one of the Netherlands’ leading metal magazines - was never released. The music is very different to Imperium - more midpaced and transparent due to the loss of one guitarist. It would be great if this stuff were to see the light of day at some point.
By the way, if you can lay your hands on the now deleted European version of ‘Too Short a Season’, I can highly recommended it. For some reason the track listing was altered for the US version without the permission of the band. The mastering also sounds slighly different and the band logo on the cover is smaller. The album title is also written in a different font. Anyway, the European track listing is as it was intended by the band and therefore makes far more sense.
Kees Harrison
Sphere of Souls
2.14.2007 | By Kees Harrison
Hi there,
I’ve finally got around to building an Imperium MySpace. There’s not a great deal of info on there at the moment, but it’s on the way. I should be meeting up with Remco Nijkamp (bass) soon to ask him a few questions for the bio.
Enjoy… and spread the word!!!
Cheers,
Kees Harrison
Sphere of Souls
7.1.2007 | By Kees Harrison