Alec Empire - CD review by Maggie Woods

“Europe’s underground legend
unleashes the new sound of Berlin —
sci-fi magic from Alec Empire’s The
Golden Foretaste of Heaven...”

DRAMATIC AND BUZZIE, electronica twanging collectively, Alec Empire's unique futuristic vision of music does it seductively to set the dance floor a-quivering from the very first track on his brand new album — The Golden Foretaste of Heaven — to the very last.

With this fresh new sound comes a brand new label for Alec — already a cult figurehead through his releases with Digital Hardcore Recordings and having amassed a loyal fan base through his highly-charged DJ/live shows and extensive remixes with various high-profile artistes.

Alec Empire

Alec has made another unique contribution to the evolution of modern music with The Golden Foretaste of Heaven and has moulded and twisted its form and content to create his own pulsating, distinct sound with poetic renderings.

During the Nineties, Alec put the spotlight on Berlin via his revolutionary, politically-charged outfit, Atari Teenage Riot — with their trademark slogans and explosive live shows. Throughout his career, Alec has worked with an astonishing variety of musicians, including Björk, Einstür-zende Neubauten, Jon Spencer, Rammstein and Slayer. From sharing the stage with Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine and Beck and Moby, to touring the globe, receiving a Kerrang! Award and getting his work snapped up for soundtracks to Hollywood films, Alec has ticked all the right boxes.

As 2008 kicks in, Alec turns the spotlight back onto his native Berlin — a city that is attracting a lot of interest and which he is confident will be Europe's main musical playground. The energy, the political savvy, even the aggression still remains. As do the industrial sounds, electronic distortion and throbbing beats. Also thrown into the mix is a subtle melodic quality, an awareness that the youth of today discover more about themselves and their world on the dance floor. This ethos is firmly translated into The Golden Foretaste of Heaven. The intensity and the melodies on this album will fire-up sound systems everywhere — prepare for the fallout!

Alec Empire

The pace of life accelerates with no sign of slowing down. There is no time to go all misty-eyed and nostalgic for the golden periods of the city's past: the punk craze of the 70s is over, likewise the nu-wave scene of the early 80s. Even the 90s boom in techno is a distant memory. Now it is time for something different. Now it's time to reflect the times, the tastes and the sounds of New Berlin — Berlin in 2008, the 21st Century.

• The Golden Foretaste of Heaven will be released in the UK on March 24 (2008).

Check out www.alec-empire.com and www.eat-your-heart-out.com.

Watch the video featuring the lead single On Fire with the uber-hot Natalia Avelon, taken from the critically-acclaimed album The Golden Foretaste of Heaven: http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=26752572.

"More thrilling torment from one Empire that will never crumble" — NME

"Electro Numan-Sinatra with a touch of Nine Inch Nails" — Plan B Magazine

"So forward-thinking it suggests an afterlife composed of people not even born yet" — Clash

"Sounds like a mixture of The Teenagers and Klaxons… But angrier" — Kate Nash (INTRO Magazine Feb 08)

"…the sound is the future. The glorious minimal soundscapes are haunting and beautiful, a daring step into uncharted territory, a bold move away from what is safe… It's intimate, it's dark, it pulsates with a powerful force from beyond imagination. It clearly expresses human emotions from deep within an extraordinary creative soul…" — Sune (Raveonettes)

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