Alec Empire - Intelligence and Sacrifice

French National Front Leader Le Pen has claimed victory over his socialist counterpart. The BNP are on the rise in Britain and look set to win votes from apathetic voters in multicultural areas such Oldham and Blackburn. And were continually on the verge of the next world war. The world a pretty f**ked up place right now and that's not even going to into issues affecting everyday life in the United Kingdom like the downfall of the NHS, transport system and the communications system with Royal Mail. As Alex Empire recently said "Britain is like Germany just before Hitler came into power. People are looking for a leader and that's a very dangerous situation to be in". "Intelligence and Sacrifice" sums up that desperation and that bleakness over the space of 2 CD's worth of nosebleed techno and stooges influenced rock.

"Path Of Destruction" sums up the youth of the nation with the brutal honesty of "This is our world and it has no future" over gothic strings before exploding in your face with ear shattering dynamic beats. Its the sound of desperation filtered through the mechanical loneliness of the cold winter of 1940. "Everything Starts With A Fuck" deals with the lies and hypocrisy in the land of freedom before segueing into a nursery rhyme "some day i'll go to heaven....Jesus said I would" before delving back into the hellish reality of living in the 21st century. The only respite over CD1 is on the somewhat out of place commercial single "Addicted To You" which features a video of a black Marilyn Monroe.

The second CD calms things down, but is none the less claustrophobic. If the likes of "Killing Machine" on CD1 sums up the releasing of the pent up aggression inside us all, CD2 is the comedown of witnessing the destruction around you. At times recalling the bleak spirit of Joy Division its sometimes just too difficult to listen to without spiralling into a unavoidable bleakness.

Alex Empire is a true genius and the voice of the electronic generation. Like Cobain, he sums up the desperation of youth and the futility of it existence. At times it may seem like an endless repetition of the same old formula, but in doing so it displays just how mundane and pedestrian day to day life is. "Intelligence and Sacrifice" is the positive release of that anger whether it be putting a brick through a bank window or a bullet in a coppers head.

Alex McCann
 

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