IMPERIAL SLAVE promote their upcoming sophomore album „…Still At Large” with “Exterminate” video.
Imperial Slave was formed by vocalist and former Sinate and 8 Foot Sativa drummer Sam Sheppard in 2020,with local Palmerston North musicians Anthony Hati (guitar),Isaac Lundy (guitar) and Achillies Manley (bass).
Sam is a metal legend in Aotearoa, renowned for his powering performances with two of our most important bands, so why did he decide to put himself out front? Sam said, “At the time of forming the band I had a shoulder injury and wouldn't be able to play drums every night touring. Also, with the amount of line-up changes I'd seen in my previous bands, changing vocalists is always the worst, so I knew we'd always have that consistency.” A year was spent rehearsing and recording material for the debut, self-titled album, which was released in 2021.The album, influenced by 80's Thrash and 90's Death Metal, was released on CD, vinyl and all major digital platforms to universal acclaim, with House of Prog saying “If the album is as powerful as this what on earth are they going to be like in concert? Definitely one for metalheads to discover.”
Drummer Matt Wright was recruited and touring New Zealand started the week after the album launch, going well into 2022, and then they were asked to tour Europe with FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE and OMNIUM GATHERUM, as well
as sharing the stage at Aalborg Metal Festival in Denmark with MISERY INDEX, PIG DESTROYER and many others.2023 saw more gigs, including supporting legendary Polish icons VADER on their NZ tour which was witnessed by Ambient Light who described them as “honed, aggressive and brutal” while Muzic.net.nz said about Sam, “His presence is immense, and anyone not knowing his history would think he has always been a frontman as his intensity dominates everything else which is going on.”
As well as playing gigs, IMPERIAL SLAVE were working on achieving Sam’s stated aim of releasing a new album every two years, writing and recording their second release, ...STILL AT LARGE. While the first album was a powering mix of 80's and 90's metal, the new album is flat out pure slamming aggressive Death Metal. Faster, heavier and more intricate than the first, it's a step up in every way. For this release all the music was written by guitarist Isaac Lundy who would demo the songs first with Sam then providing the lyrics. Recorded again at the Stomach in Palmerston North, with Nigel Mauchline again involved, they have also used the same cover artist in Barny Bewick at Indium Design (Alien Weaponry, Devilskin, Sir Dave Dobbyn), but as with the music it has again been lifted to a new level.
This has undoubtedly been assisted by having the same line-up since inception and playing in multiple countries overseas, not something many NZ metal bands accomplish during their career, yet IMPERIAL SLAVE were only formed in 2020.
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