EMPEROR – The Lionspirit

vote
6.0

• Bands:
  EMPEROR
• Duration: 00:42:48
• Available from: 01/16/2025
• Label:

• Rockshots Records

It's not every day for this writer to come across metallic musical releases from Australia in their listening sessions: well, today we are introducing on the pages of Metalitalia the name of Imperatore, from Perth, and more precisely we are talking about their imminent third release, “The Lionspirit”, under the local wing of the Turin-based Rockshots Records; but, rightly, many will now be wondering what this strange Australian creature with a moniker as evocative as it is inextricably linked to our land actually is.

Our band was formed recently, in 2022, at the behest of singer and guitarist Zoran Cunjack, releasing the full-length of the same name the following year, and then immediately followed by the second “Nations, Rise!”, two works of fairly basic symphonic power, without peaks or sinkings, which stylistically, but also qualitatively, are at odds with the third album reviewed here.
Third album that sees Cunjack himself as the main songwriter, assisted by his trusted collaborator and producer of the same album Rodion Farafontov, who focuses, as regards the content of the lyrics, on concepts very dear to the epic undergrowth such as courage, resilience, human fragility and the ability to rebirth in the face of adversity; the stoic philosophy and the teachings of characters such as Marcus Aurelius and Seneca represent the main road of the thematic universe in which the trio moves, while as regards the actual music we can see, in addition to what has already been said, a slight progressive/alternative influence which however fails to make the product stand out as it should, and as one would legitimately hope from the initial intentions.

The most popular names that come to mind when listening to “The Lionspirit” are those of Kamelot, Symphony
Unfortunately, the element that is most lacking, among all those put on the scale, is Cunjack's voice, truly devoid of even the slightest bite and even almost 'annoying' in situations in which he tries his hand at operatic lines; on the instrumental level, however, no particular criticisms can be made, in the sense that everyone carries out their own task with a view to bringing home the result, but it is really difficult to find passages that are above average, beyond the minimum questionable.
Among the moments worth mentioning, for the record, are the hard supporting riff of “Between The Worlds”, a song which takes on Rammsteinian features in the verses and refrains, “All Of Us” which does not make who knows what great contribution to the cause but has the privilege of respectfully recalling the harsh and overwhelming sounds of the golden age of industrial and “My Life”, the most 'epic' and enthralling song of the lot.
Worth noting, respectively as useless and harmful, are the opening homages to Iron Maiden (“Ides Of March” with synthesizers instead of guitars) and to Hans Zimmer (a version of the main theme of “Gladiator” even sung in Italian, so as not to miss the nod to Manowar).

To close, we can consider “The Lionspirit” as a title perfectly in line with Imperatore's performance up to this point; It's a shame that this trend can be perfectly summarized using the expression 'flat calm', i.e. explaining the feeling that the Australian group's career is proceeding by inertia and that, to date, the turning point has not yet been seen.
This does not mean that this latest effort by the trio cannot be appreciated by some enthusiasts and admirers of the subject, but we believe that we are not too harsh in stating that it is very unlikely to earn a place among the favorite listens of anyone out there.