IMPERATOR
April 20th :
Imperator are playing their first ever Swedish gig in Stockholm, at Alcazar, together with Repugnant and Kaamos. Tickets are 80:- and available through BiljettDirekt. The location of Alcazar is David Bagares Gata 15, close to the underground station Hotorget. Age 18.
Hails from the Polish city of Lodz...
Imperator was formed in 1984 by Bariel. They were the fastest, most brutal and uncompromising act that emerged from Poland, as well as the whole Eastern Europe, at that time.
Their first live appearance took place in the mists of 1986, at the Jarocin festival in Poland. The line-up at this time, being Bariel: vocals/guitar, Mefisto: bass and Adrian: drums.
The music of Imperator was labelled as speed/black metal, at that time, and they soon became the most sought after band by metal fans in Poland, as well as further afield.
Their first official demo, "Endless Sacrifice", was recorded at the famous Metal Mania festival in 1987 and sold thousands of copies, throughout the underground, in a short space of time.
Soon to follow was the "Deathlive" demo, again in 1987. The demo was recorded live at shows in Pruszcz Gdanski and Wagrowiec.
Shortly after the release of that demo, Adrian left the band and was replaced by Moloch. With the new drummer in place they recorded the third demo, "Eternal Might". This remains the best known black/death demo from Poland till this day and was a true milestone in the history of Polish metal.
On the strength of this, the band played hundreds of gigs throughout the country. Unfortunately, Moloch decided to leave the black/death scene and became a mainstream/hardcore person. His replacement was his younger brother, Carol.
The change over occurred whilst the band were in the middle of a run of shows at the Lodz Studio theatre. Imperator played live, performing the music they had composed for a theatrical performance of Bram Stoker's "Dracula".
During early 1990, the band was busy with theatrical performances and gigs before they went into the C.C.S. Studio in Warsaw, to record their legendary album "The Time Before Time". It was the first of its kind in Poland. It was a black/death album that was centred around a main lyrical concept.
Euronymous (R.I.P.) from Deathlike Silence Productions was the first person to show an interest in releasing this gem. He was really impressed by the music of Imperator and even proudly announced the release on the booklet of Mayhem's "Deathcrush" MCD.
Unfortunately his death meant that the band had to release the album themselves on vinyl LP. This was a great success, selling out of its 10,000 copies. It is a sought after rarity these days.
In 1991, shortly after the recordings sessions of the album, the band gained a second guitarist in the form of Quack, who originally played in another famous Polish band called Hate! With this line-up the band played many concerts and tours in Poland to promote the album. They played gigs with Deicide, Gorefest and Atrocity, to name but a few.
In 1993 the band recorded two tracks for the CD re-release of the "The Time Before the Time" for Loud Out Records (this album was re-released again in 1997 by Polish label Pagan Records, but not 100% legally).
At the end of 1993, Bariel departed to England, and the band officially split.
In 1995, Imperator tried to reunite forces and started to rehearse with the line-up of Bariel: vocals/guitar, Mefisto: bass, Chris: guitar (ex-Abathor) and Paul: drums (from Tenebris). Sadly this line-up left a legacy of only a few riffs recorded on tape from this time. Six new tracks, for a new album, were composed but, due to some personal problems, the band split up again. This saw the termination of Bariel's connection with Imperator. He entered a "normal" existence, uninterested in extreme music.
At the beginning of 1998, Chris and Mefisto met up with Carol and started talking about a new reformation of the band. They started to rehearse again and easily created some new tracks. They also played a whole wealth of covers from their fave influences, i.e. Bathory, Black Sabbath and Kat.
A new demo (the first since 1993), "Existential Prophecy", was recorded and the band started to play gigs in Lodz and Warsaw. This brought ecstatic reactions from the crowd, as the Imperator name is Pure Cult in Poland!
The new line-up, at this time, consisted of Chris: vocals/lead guitar, Mefisto: bass, Carol: drums and a brand new member in the form of Sunrize: guitar (from a well known band from Lodz called Sacriversum).
The band's lyrical concept has not changed much since its inception. It still has the main anti-christian element, but now it explains the personal views of the band concerning the terror and baptism of blood of pagan Poland in the mists of the dark ages.
As the band has a current and stable line-up, as well as new material to promote, they have decided to send out a promo on CD-R, with the intention of a deal with a label that will be worthy of such a cult act. So we encourage every individual to get in touch. For information and details, don't hesitate to write!
Imperator management, P.O. Box 42, Sofia 99, Bulgaria or demon@abv.bg.
D E M O- . & . D I S C O G R A P H Y
Endless Sacrifice demo 1987
Deathlive demo 1987
The Time Before Time LP/CD
Existential Prophecy demo 1999
read more info on this legend band at:IMPERATOR official site