ROBB FLYNN comes to see London thrashers IMPERIUM at BLOODSTOCK.
On Saturday 13th August, London thrashers IMPERIUM played the New Blood stage at the mighty Bloodstock Open Air Festival. They had already gained a lot of fans with their impressive set and subsequent win at the London Metal to The Masses competition, and many of these fans had made the journey to see them in the sweltering packed tent at Bloodstock.
What they didn’t realise however is that one rather special fan also took time out of their busy day to come see them…none other than Machine Head main man Robb Flynn.
We caught up with IMPERIUM frontman Ben Porter to get the low-down on what happened:
“So….
We’re up there having the best time! Our set was going down amazingly well, the pits were going mad, and the crowd was absolutely killing it. We could actually feel the buzz! You know, playing Bloodstock was such an honour for us, and we really thought things couldn’t get any better but how wrong we were man!
We walked off stage to find that Robb Flynn from Machine Fucking Head was standing there along with Bloodstock’s Alan Hungerford and Simon Hall having watched our set. We were so stoked! Robb was waiting backstage to congratulate us, shake our hands and share a beer with us! What a moment that was!
Honestly, we’d already had the time of our lives and then someone who has had a big influence on us in every respect was there to show his appreciation of our music. Seriously, praise doesn’t come higher for a band of our stature. It absolutely blew our minds!
What a top bloke Rob was too! He didn’t need to hang about and didn’t need to pose for pictures, but he was a total gentleman and he even offered to buy us beers! We had to insist on doing the deed though so we could say we bought him one! Ha!
It was amazing man, totally fucking amazing!”
IMPERIUM drop their new EP on Spotify completing their self-titled debut release on 3rd September. Pre save link https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/imperium4/imperium-ep
The band are also working on their next album at the moment, scheduled for release in summer 2023.
IMPERIUM play ALT FEST 2022 on Saturday 17th September at The Hairy Dog in Derby, and BREAKING BANDS FESTIVAL on Sat 27th Mat 2023
Band Website: https://www.imperiummetal.com/
Band Contact: imperiumheavymetal@gmail.com
Social Media Links: https://linktr.ee/IMPERIUM_UK
Reporting by Enda Madden – August 2022
EP Reviews:
The Razor’s Edge
“Imperium have produced an incredibly solid release, with four tracks that just get under the skin from every angle. With more music to come, the Imperium star is rightly in the ascendency. If you are at Bloodstock, get across and see these guys. Their live show works on a level that recorded music can rarely match. These songs live are phenomenal.”
Metal Noise
“An eight-minute magnum opus of Progressive Thrash with “And Justice For All” era Metallica vibes, extended instrumental passages and all the riffs you could possibly want, it’s a real showcase for the bands musicianship and song writing abilities, something which defies the odds given how long they’ve been writing together.”
GBHBL
“A head-banging heavyweight metal release that combines elements of thrash and groove to create a frantic and infectious brand of heaviness. It’s a blistering start to get things going. Here Comes the Night showcasing killer riffs, heavy groove, and a ton of energy. This track is going to slay in the pit.”
