Imperatore – The Lionspirit

Imperatore
The Lionspirit
Label: Rockshots Records
Out: 19^th December 2025
Playing time: 42:51

The press release describes the band as ‘Australian Rock Visionaries’. Their music is described as ‘a mixture of Heavy Rock, Progressive Metal and operatic grandeur’. Imperatore were founded in 2022 by singer and guitarist Zoran Cunjack in Perth, Australia. Their self-titled debut album was released in April 2023, followed by ‘Nations, Rise!’ in December 2024. One year later, their third album, ‘The Lionspirit’, is already complete. So things are happening thick and fast. Does this have an impact on the quality of the songwriting? Let’s have a listen.

‘Ides Of March’ is an overlong, epic orchestral intro. But you can still listen to it. I’ve heard much worse. However, in my opinion, half the playing time would have been enough. ‘Be A Man’ starts off orchestral, but then we hear Metal riffs with a lot of bombast underneath. Zoran Cunjack demonstrates his good vocal training with his clear singing. An operatic baritone can be heard in the background. After a short epic introduction, ‘Orion’ is characterised by calm guitar sounds and accentuated drumming. Again, there is plenty of orchestral bombast, but also some harder riffs here and there. Zoran Cunjack sings with a slightly darker timbre at times, which sounds a bit like Dark Rock. The strong orchestration continues later in ‘My Life’, ‘Between The Worlds’, ‘Men Of Pain’ and “Australian”. These are interspersed with harder riffs, mostly calm drums and melodic vocals. In between, ‘Treachery’ is an epic power ballad with lots of strings. ‘All Of Us’ sounds a bit industrial at first, but later becomes harder without sacrificing the orchestral epic. A powerful bass line repeatedly pushes its way to the foreground. Finally, ‘Il Gladiatore’ follows as the next operatic ballad. This is mainly due to the baritone vocals, which are later accompanied by a choir. Although it sounds as if the song came from a great Italian opera, it is actually film music by Hans Zimmer from the movie ‘Gladiator’. I listened to several versions by great opera tenors (including Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli). It is impressive that the vocal performance here is hardly any worse.

The closing track, ‘Il Gladiatore’, is of course the absolute highlight of this album. But the other songs also offer high-quality Symphonic Metal. Sure, the orchestral bombast is a little over the top here and there, but the heavy riffs always ensure that Metal feeling. The sound is probably not to everyone’s taste. But you should definitely give ‘The Lionspirit’ a listen.

Imperatore – Be A Man: https://youtu.be/o5zZdq_MKL4?si=uXUcRFpIhpJ8ySUC

Lineup:

Zoran Cunjack – Vocals, Guitars
Sean Allsopp – Drums
Daniel Marijanovic – Bass Guitar

Track list:

• Ides Of March
• Be A Man
• Orion
• My Life
• Treachery
• Between The Worlds
• Men Of Pain
• All Of Us
• Australian
• Il Gladiatore