Imperial Age (band)

Imperial Age is a symphonic metal band from Moscow, founded in 2012 by singers/composers Alexander "Aor" Osipov and Jane "Corn" Odintsova. They are the second most-internationally touring metal band from Russia.[1] and the country's most known symphonic metal act.[2] Imperial Age has collaborated on multiple occasions with musicians from Therion and Arkona who are featured on all Imperial Age albums. The band was brought to international attention by symphonic metal pioneer Christofer Johnsson,[3][4][5][6][7] who, after being impressed with their live performance and their cover of Therion's song To Mega Therion in 2014, offered to distribute their music through his label Adulruna Records.[8]

Imperial Age
OriginMoscow, Russia
GenresSymphonic metal, power metal
Years active2012–present
Associated actsTherion, Arkona, Rhapsody of Fire, Dimmu Borgir
Websiteimperial-age.com
Members
  • Alexander Osipov
  • Jane Odintsova
  • Anna Moiseeva
  • Pavel Maryashin
  • Max Talion
  • Dima Belf

The name of the band has nothing to do with modern states and refers to Atlantis and Hyperborea, from which the musicians drive their inspiration.[9] The lyrics deal with Magic (supernatural) and the occult, mainly Hermeticism, Hermetic Qabalah, Runic magic, paganism, bon and the legacy of Ancient civilisations such as Ancient Egypt, Sumer and Mesoamerican civilisations.[9][10]

History

On 20 November 2012 the band released their debut full-length album Turn The Sun Off!, recorded with many known Russian musicians (Arkona, Epidemia, Stigmatic Chorus, Demons of Guillotine etc.) and received many positive reviews from critics internationally.[2][11][12][13][14] Initially Aor was the lead singer while Jane played keyboards and did the backing vocals.[15]

In 2013 they toured in Russia as headliners [16][17] as well as support acts for Epica,[18] Paradise Lost,[19] Finntroll [20] and Oomph! .

In 2014 Alexander and Jane embarked on a monthly expedition to Tibet where they filmed a music video for the song Aryavarta at Lake Manasarovar, Mount Everest and Mount Kailash - at altitudes up to 6000 metres above sea level.[21]

Same year, the band continued domestic touring, both as headliners and support act for Tarja Turunen,[22] The 69 Eyes,[23] Tristania [24] and Therion.[25] The latter turned out to be the turning point in their careers. While Imperial Age were playing in front of Therion in St. Petersburg, Christofer Johnsson was siting behind the scenes during the whole set, listening. He was so impressed that he offered the Russians to release their albums through his label Adulruna Records and join Therion on a big European tour. The musicians have been good friends ever since.[8]

Their EP Warrior Race was released in Europe via Adulruna on 1 January 2016. The record included 3 new songs, a Therion cover (which Christofer called "the best Therion cover" he had ever heard [26]) and 5 songs from the first album re-recorded with a new lead singer - Alexandra Sidorova.[27][28][29][30][31][32] A European tour of 21 concerts in 13 countries as support for Therion followed in January - February 2016.[33][34][35][36]

After the tour Alexandra left the band for personal reasons and was replaced with Anna "Kiara" Moiseeva.[37] After that, a second European tour of 18 concerts in 11 countries followed in November 2016 - this time as support for Orphaned Land.[38][39][40] At the end of the tour Imperial Age successfully played their first headliner shows in Europe - in Manchester (UK).[41] and Zaragoza (ES) [42]

Their second full-length album titled The Legacy of Atlantis was released on 1 February 2018.[43][44][45][46][47][48] The album is a metal opera with various characters telling an occult story about a magician from Atlantis who is reborn in medieval Italy. Jane has left the keyboards to fully concentrate on singing, and the role of Cardinal Gregory was sung by Thomas Vikström. Bass and rhythm guitars were recorded by Therion bassist Nalle Pahlsson, solo guitar - by Christian Vidal. The record was mixed and mastered by Sergei Lazar of Arkona. The opera features the P.I. Tchaikovsky Moscow State Concervatory Chamber Choir conducted by Taras Yasenkov.[49][50][51]

From January to April 2018 they embarked on their longest tour which included 59 concerts in 26 EU and non-EU countries - this time, as mid-act with Therion . The tour was also the biggest tour in Therion's career.[52][53][54] The first edition of The Legacy of Atlantis didn't reach distribution in time because not enough copies were printed and they were completely sold out on tour.[55][56][57]

In June the band signed contract with Japanese label Rubicon Music for three releases in Japan.[58][59]

In January-March 2019 the band had a big European headliner tour and in December 2019 released the video on “The Legacy of Atlantis” song, which was 100% funded by their fans and reached almost 1 million views in its first 4 months and beat 70% of music videos released in November & December 2019 by such giants as Nuclear Blast, Napalm Records, etc.[60]

On April, 25th 2020 IMPERIAL AGE streamed a 180-minute online concert from locked-down Moscow and achieved ground-breaking success with 38,000 people streaming the live concert from all 7 continents, including Antarctica. The band received $11,470 USD in donations during the show and the subsequent DVD grossed another $20,000 USD. After the show, Imperial Age received offers from several major record labels, but declined them all.[61]

Discography
  • Turn The Sun Off! (2012)
  • Warrior Race (EP, 2016)
  • The Legacy Of Atlantis (2018)
  • Live in Wroclaw (2019)

Band members

Current members

  • Alexander “Aor” Osipov – tenor vocals
  • Jane “Corn” Odintsova – mezzo-soprano vocals
  • Anna “Kiara” Moiseeva – soprano vocals
  • Max Talion – drums
  • Paul “Vredes” Maryashin – guitars
  • Dmitry “Belf” Safronov – bass, unclean vocals

Timeline

References
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  3. admin. "IMPERIAL AGE signen Adulruna Records". metalnews.ch (in German). Retrieved 2018-10-07.
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