The album mood is suitably bombastic, given the imperial connotations of the title, but is underpinned by an omnipresent sense of menace. The majority of songs are propelled by repetitive and prominently placed percussive elements, and the few songs without this backbone tend to meander in a directionless manner. While the sparse lyrics are hardly likely to win any awards, to consider this a negative would be like complaining that a black metal album is "too satanic" -- i.e. missing the point entirely. This is clearly a musical album, and in this aspect excels admirably. The vocals are unlikely to be off-putting to those whose ears are accustomed to harsher, guitar driven noise, as they are delivered in an ominous rasp, which wouldn't be out of place during a quiet interlude on a track by one of the more atmospheric metal acts. An excellent example of dark underground electronica.