Antalya-based Symphonic Power Metallers IMPERIAL AGE have released a stunning new music video for their single, “Shackles of Gold.”
The video features the band performing against a backdrop of striking imagery, including pirate caves and epic canyons. The song’s thunderous guitar riffs, soaring vocals, and folk tunes combine to create a powerful anthem of rebellion and liberation, encouraging listeners to break free from the shackles of living in an endless rate race.
“Shackles of Gold” is a true masterpiece of Symphonic/Power/Folk Metal, and the video is a visual feast for fans of the genre. Don’t miss out on this incredible new release from Imperial Age.
On February 24, 2022, IMPERIAL AGE became the first Metal band from Russia to resolutely and publicly protest the invasion of Ukraine. Immediately afterwards, founders and vocalists Jane Odintsova and Alexander “Aor” Osipov left the country and settled in Antalya, Turkey, from where they formed an international lineup with musicians from Italy, the UK, the Netherlands and the US.
Despite heavy financial losses and numerous difficulties, they passionately managed to keep the band alive – mainly thanks to the enormous support of their huge European and American fanbase.
6 months later IMPERIAL AGE released their third album “New World” and subsequently played a whole 21 EU concerts on their own in September 2022 and 5 UK concerts in January 2023.
While on tour in the UK, bandleaders Jane and Alexander were recognized by Arts Council England as “Exceptional Talents” under the Global Talent program – a select immigration route reserved for internationally recognised artists, scientists and athletes wishing to move to the UK.
To help fund the upcoming relocation costs, Jane and Alexander set up their own crowdfunding page and asked fans to help them cover the £5,150 NHS surcharge required to apply for UK residency. This turned out to be a huge success:
within a few days, fans raised enough funds to more than quadruple the original goal to a total of £21,419 (and still counting!)
Speaking to their devoted fans in an update on the official crowdfunding page, Imperial Age said: “You guys are definitely the best fans in the world! We are deeply – positively – shocked, we are simply at a loss for words, we can only be immensely grateful. We could never have imagined that this would go so well!
All the money you have pledged will be used for our relocation and to cover the band’s debts, which, as mentioned below, are mainly due to urgent relocations, concert postponements, refunds and visa problems.
We are infinitely grateful and appreciative for all your support!!!
We will not let you down. Promise.”
Jane and Alexander have already applied for UK residence permits at the British Consulate in Antalya. So great things can be expected on the horizon as Imperial Age makes its move to the British Isles!
KiaRa is a symphonic metal band founded by Anna KiaRa (singer of Imperial Age) in 2019 as her solo project and then formed into the full band when Anna’s friends and colleagues on music stage joined her.
The Band’s music style is based on classical female fronted symphonic metal but also combines elements of different metal subgenres like symphonic black metal, modern metal and folk metal.
The debut album “Storyteller” was released in 2020 and got plenty of positive reviews from metal fans all around the world. The presentation of “Storyteller” was performed as an online stream show due to COVID lockdown and later was released as “Online Winter Show” on DVD.
The second album “Archangel” was released on October 14th, 2022. The band describes the album as experimental and far more heavy than the previous one.
The first single from the album called “Last Goodbye” was released on September 29th. The official “Last Goodbye” video was published on October 7th. Now the second official video for the song “Nostalgia” is out!
After 2 years of re-schedulings, IMPERIAL AGE are very happy to announce their return to the European stages! In September they will roll across Western Europe in support of the upcoming album “New World”.
The band will be joined by Elephants in Paradise , Sick N’ Beautiful , Circle of Witches , Dead Venus and Dying Phoenix at different parts of the tour.
01/09 – WEINHEIM (DE) – Café Central * 02/09 – PARIS (FR) – Le Petit Bain * 03/09 – MONTPELLIER (FR) – Secret Place * 04/09 – LYON (FR) – Rock’n’Eat * 06/09 – BARCELONA (ES) – Sala Boveda * 07/09 – MADRID (ES) – Sala Rockville * 08/09 – LISBON (PT) – RCA Club * 09/09 – PORTO (PT) – Hard Club * 10/09 – BILBAO (ES) – Stage Live * 11/09 – TOULOUSE (FR) – L’usine À Musique * 13/09 – MÜNCHEN (DE) – Backstage ** 14/09 – DÜSSELDORF (DE) – Pitcher ** 15/09 – UBACH PALENBERG (DE) – Rockfabrik ** 16/09 – ARNHEM (NL) – Willemeen ** 17/09 – WETZIKON-ZURICH (CH) – Hall of Fame ** 18/09 – MANTOVA (IT) – Arci Tom *** 20/09 – BREE (BE) – Ragnarok *** 21/09 – SIEGBURG (DE) – Kubana *** 23/09 – ROTTERDAM (NL) – Baroeg *** *Elephants in Paradise + Sick’n’Beautiful + Beneath My Sins **Elephants in Paradise + Circle of Witches + Dead Venus ***Elephants in Paradise + Circle of Witches + Dying Phoenix
All previously purchased tickets for postponed shows are valid for these dates. The UK tour is being booked for September/October 2022, and will be announced separately.
After protesting against the invasion of Ukraine and 4 out of 6 band members leaving Russia (Aor and Jane – to Turkey, Anna and Paul – to Montenegro), IMPERIAL AGE released “The Way is The Aim” – the first single and music video off the upcoming album “New World”, for which the band’s global fans pledged more than US$ 65,000 during crowdfunding in July-August 2021.
“It has been more than 4 years since we published any new music. Lots of things happened since then to ourselves and the world, but finally, backed by the colossal support of our phenomenal fans, we are ready to start unleashing our “New World” album onto… well, the (New) World!
The first single & music video is called “The Way is the Aim” and it spearheads the main theme of the album: Freedom. Freedom of finding and having your own Path in the World. Freedom of thinking your own thoughts. Freedom from everyone and everything. Freedom to explore and learn. Freedom to lead a peaceful and meaningful life.
We all have a choice: follow your own Path, or follow someone else’s. The first brings positivity and joy, and charges you with energy. The second brings negativity and tiredness, and drains you.
Follow your own Path, find your own Purpose. Listen to your Heart. Filter out the Noise, see through the Fog of Negativity and always remember: You are the Light in the Darkness!
And don’t forget to smell the flowers along the way: because there is always another goal after this one. There is always a bigger fish. But its the Way itself that is the Aim!” – the band wrote on their Facebook.
“The World has changed. I see it in the Water. I feel it in the Earth. I smell it in the Air.” – J.R.R. Tolkien
Four years have passed since the release of IMPERIAL AGE‘s latest album “The Legacy of Atlantis”, a concept album and a metal opera about Atlantis – the ancient advanced civilisation, and Magic – the legacy of that civilisation.
Since then many things have changed in ourselves and in the world around us, and this is also reflected in the new music.
While built upon the foundation of its predecessor musically and lyrically, “New World” is faster, heavier and focuses on such concepts as Development, Evolution, Path (Dao), Freedom, Exploration and Knowledge. If “Legacy of Atlantis” was element Water, “New World” is element Air.
The cover art is once again symbolic (using the same language as the symbols in Tarot decks), and contains a cipher which closely follows the lyrics. Can you de-cipher it?
Despite being faster and heavier than the previous album, “New World” retains all the signature features of Imperial Age symphonic metal style: punchy guitars & drums, symphonic orchestra (this is the first time we actually recorded live orchestral instruments on all songs), symphonic choir, anthem-style choruses and 3 different lead singers: Aor, Jane and Kiara.
The album contains 7 regular tracks and one enormous 18-minute-long metal symphony called “Call of the Towers” that is stylistically a bit different from the other songs – darker, a bit tragic but at the same time elevated and spiritual, sometimes a bit resembling “Turn the Sun Off!”. It even has a 3-minute-long church organ solo.
Tracklist:
Windborn [03:40]
Legend of the Free [04:17]
The Way is the Aim [04:01]
Shackles of Gold [04:02]
The Wheel [04:14]
To the Edge of the Known [03:40]
Distant Shores [04:44]
Call of the Towers [18:12] Total play time: 46 minutes 48 seconds
The album will be released worldwide on 05th August 2022, in the following formats: Digital, CD, Digipack, Double-CD Earbook and Vinyl.
4 singles will be released ahead of the album in Digital and CD formats, accompanied by 5 music videos and 8 live videos from the “Live New World” online concert with choir and orchestra.
The ‘New World’ album & music videos have been 100% crowdfunded by our fans during the campaign of July-August 2021. All Crowdfunder Bundles will be shipped and emailed by 05 July 2022. All singles will also be emailed in digital format to all Crowdfunders two weeks before their respective release dates.
Pre-order for everyone else will open soon, so stay tuned!
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