September 23rd, the Autumnal Equinox, heralds the release of Black Heart Of Empire - the second full-length album by IMPERIAL VENGEANCE; and sees the gentlemen retreat from the horrors of war that dominated their debut, and raise the curtain on ten new absinthe-soaked compositions, played - for the most part - against the sinister backdrop of 19th Century London.

The duo describe the new work as, “Ten dastardly tales of intrigue, phantasm and Derring-do”.

Beginning with a four part song cycle entitled 'The Gaslight Aria', the album proceeds through a collection of narratives that present a singularly dark vision. The resulting journey is a breathtakingly complex opiated haze of inspired guitar riffing and dramatic orchestration, awash with neo-Victorian aesthetics and containing no less than one hour of quintessentially British metal.

The disc will be released in tandem with a 42-page Penny Dreadful style booklet, which amongst the assorted simulacra and ephemera contains extracts of the orchestral score, photo galleries, Victorian horror and extensive insight by C. Edward Alexander and David Bryan into the background and composition behind the album.

Adding to this nightmarish tapestry of foreboding Doréan atmosphere are guest appearances:

- from THERION soprano Lori Lewis and VULTURE INDUSTRIES vocalist, Bjørnar Erevik Nilsen: "We needed a voice to represent a very specific character for the track 'Upon the Stair'. It needed to come from outside the band, and needed to be other-worldly and insane. Bjornar is all these things and more, and took the song to a new level of intangible weirdness."
- with additional spoken word from author/former gangster Dave Courtney. Dave Courtney has provided what Imperial Vengeance describe as "the voice of Old London". The band spent the day at Dave's home Castle Camelot where they recorded passages for the album. C Edward Alexander said: "there was no better voice to represent the heart of Old London. He's the real thing, and IV always strives for authenticity and eccentricity. Despite his fearsome reputation, it's the second time we've been to visit him, and he and his family have always been very welcoming."

The album was recorded St Mary’s Fields Studios in Colchester, engineered and mixed by C Edward Alexander, and mastered by acclaimed producer Russ Russell (DIMMU BORGIR, NAPALM DEATH, SAMAEL) at Parlour Studios, Kettering:

"We were thrilled to have Russ add his stamp of quality to the album, especially since he has an inherent understanding of the insanity we are creating. We hope to involve him even more deeply in future releases."

Black Heart of Empire will be released digitally and on CD by the Transcend Music Group and distributed world-wide through Universal.