Imperial Vengeance

Imperial Vengeance
OriginColchester, Essex, England
GenresExtreme metal, symphonic metal, Progressive metal
Years active2007-present
LabelsTranscend,[1] Candlelight
MembersC.Edward Alexander
David Bryan
Websiteimperialvengeance.com

Imperial Vengeance are an English heavy metal band, from Colchester, Essex, England, formed in 2007 by former Cradle of Filth guitarist C. Edward Alexander (b. Charles Edward Alexander Hedger, 18 September 1980, Colchester, Essex/ Guitars, Vocals, Orchestration), and David Bryan (Bass, Lyrics). The band's musical style embraces aspects of symphonic black metal and other extreme metal genres, with lyrical themes and imagery largely influenced by the British Empire period.

After issuing a self-released four-track EP in early 2008 entitled "Death: August and Royal" the band signed a deal with Candlelight Records,[2] and released their debut album "At The Going Down Of The Sun" in July 2009. The album's title track was also to feature spoken word from Harry Patch, providing extracts from Laurence Binyon's For the Fallen.[3] During the following September, the band issued a video of the track "6th Airborne Division" [4] which revealed a live line up of additional members consisting of Elle Torry- guitar, James Murray- Guitar, and James Last- Drums. Gigs followed, a notable appearance being at [5] the Hellfire Festival at Birmingham's NEC.[6] The band followed this with an EP that featured a cover of Madness 1979 song Night Boat to Cairo with a suitably eccentric video to accompany the release,[7] signed a management deal with Rob Ferguson of Transcend Management,[8] and moved labels from Candlelight in favour of the Transcend Music Group.

2010 saw the band begin outlining ideas for a second album, and in July issued a DVD that not only featured videos for both "6th Airborne Division" and "Night Boat to Cairo", but also included the filmed footage of the recording session with Harry Patch It was also announced that the title for this next work would be "Black Heart Of Empire" and would feature an appearance from the soprano Lori Lewis (Therion).[9] A Penny dreadful style publication was issued in conjunction with the album.[10]

The band released Black Heart of Empire on 28 September 2011.[11] Other artists that make appearances on the album include Therion soprano Lori Lewis, Vulture Industries vocalist, Bjørnar Erevik Nilsen, and Dave Courtney[12] providing "the Voice of Old London." The album was recorded and engineered by C. Edward Alexander and mastered by Russ Russell.[13]

  1. ^ "Transcend Music Group » Transcend Music Group". www.transcendmusicgroup.com. Archived from the original on 21 August 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  2. ^ "IMPERIAL VENGEANCE Signs With CANDLELIGHT RECORDS". Blabbermouth.net. 17 June 2008. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012.
  3. ^ "The good, the bad and the crosscore". Truecultheavymetal.com. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  4. ^ "IMPERIAL VENGEANCE: '6th Airborne Division (Redux)' Video Released". Blabbermouth.net. 29 September 2009. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012.
  5. ^ "IMPERIAL VENGEANCE PLANT THE FLAG AT HELLFIRE II". Errorizer.com. 3 October 2009. Archived from the original on 10 July 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  6. ^ "Hellfire Announce more bands for the Hellfire Festival at the NEC". Rock3music.com. 3 October 2009.
  7. ^ "I IMPERIAL VENGEANCE: 'Night Boat To Cairo' Video Released - Mar. 16, 2010". Blabbermouth.net. 16 April 2010. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012.
  8. ^ "I Imperial Vengeance Sign to Transcend Management". Altsounds.com. 4 January 2010. Archived from the original on 16 March 2010. Retrieved 28 July 2010.
  9. ^ "IMPERIAL VENGEANCE Hit The Studio To Record The Black Heart Of Empire". Bravewords.com. 7 July 2010.
  10. ^ "Imperial Vengeance Album Update". Transcendmusicgroup.com. 16 July 2010.
  11. ^ "Imperial Vengeance Album Update". Metalasfuck.com. 23 September 2010.
  12. ^ "Imperial Vengeance – Black Heart of Empire: "Ten dastardly tales of intrigue, phantasm and Derring-do"". Smashitpr.com. 23 September 2010.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ "Imperial Vengeance release some [most amusing] artwork!". Smashitpr.com. 21 September 2010. Archived from the original on 29 October 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2011.