Alec Empire
Intelligence and Sacrifice

THE REVIEW

"Everything starts with a fuck".

Although it's not the first track on the album, it could be its opening. The survivor Alec Empire releases this record as abrasive as muriatic acid. An album deliberately not for everyone, which seems to challenge the listener: come on, tell me you hate me and you'll destroy my CD by throwing it in the toilet.

The Berliner perhaps still feels the shock from the suicide of his former bandmate from the Atari Teenage Riot days, Carl Crack, found horribly self-mutilated in his Prenzlauer Berg apartment.

A bombardment of sounds, beyond any limit. The Nine Inch Nails have never dared so much. Perhaps few would. Behind this deafening sound machine (much to the neighbors' delight) lies enormous work in the recording studio, given that there is not a single sample in all the tracks present. Everything "generated" from scratch. It truly deserves respect.

The surprise comes from the bonus CD. Perhaps more experimental and less "borderline", it features tracks where musical research becomes more acute and, paradoxically, extreme. It almost seems like a chill-out album when compared to the main record. Alec, you've lost. I'm holding onto this album tight. There are things I will understand one day. Right now, it's just too early for me. Even my neighbors will understand....